The Inland Revenue Department has deferred the mandatory submission of Taxpayer Identification Number certificates for eight specified categories of transaction until 1 April 2027, abandoning a requirement that had been in force for only four days.
The decision was taken with the approval of the Ministry of Finance and announced in a public notice, the Daily Mirror reported on Thursday. The notice was issued by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue, EconomyNext reported.
Why it was pulled back
All three filings give the same reason: demand for TIN certificates outstripped the department’s capacity to issue them. The surge came not only from people who actually needed a certificate for one of the eight transactions but from the general public more broadly, Hiru News reported. EconomyNext described the demand as unprecedented and the result as an administrative bottleneck.
Hiru’s account frames the deferral as a step taken specifically to spare the public the inconvenience the queues were causing.
What the rule was
The requirement took effect on 1 November 2026 under subsection (6) of Section 103 of the Inland Revenue Act, No. 24 of 2017, as amended by the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2026. It was introduced through Circular No. SEC/PN/IT/2026/05, dated 22 September 2026.
This desk reported the requirement in September when it was announced, and reported on 3 November that officials were already telling the public it need not be met for bank accounts and vehicle revenue licences.
What happens in the meantime
During the extended period the department says it will introduce alternative and more convenient ways for people who have already registered for a TIN to obtain their certificates — in physical or digital form, according to EconomyNext. Those who have not yet registered are being directed to the department’s online e-Services platform rather than to its counters.
What the filings do not settle
None of the three reports says whether the eight transaction categories will be reintroduced unchanged in April 2027 or revised in the interim, nor whether the deferral requires a further gazette or circular to give it legal effect. None states what happens to certificates already issued since 1 November, and none indicates whether the April date is firm or itself provisional.