The Committee on Public Finance, chaired by MP Dr. Harsha de Silva, has endorsed the Finance (Amendment) Bill — a measure to amend the Finance Act No. 35 of 2018 — and signed off on a five-year tax exemption for new telecommunications towers, Newswire reported.
Under the proposal, towers that become operational on or after January 1, 2026 will be granted a five-year tax exemption. The relief is aimed at expanding mobile network coverage and improving digital connectivity, particularly in under-served parts of the country, and was first announced in the 2026 Budget.
The committee also considered amendments to the Telecommunications Levy Act No. 21 of 2011, intended to update the legal framework governing telecom taxes and improve transparency in tax administration.
However, the CoPF declined to approve a proposal that would have allowed telecom operators to claim tax deductions on unpaid customer dues — a measure operators had pushed for as a way to write off bad debt from churned or non-paying subscribers.
The endorsement clears the way for the Finance (Amendment) Bill to proceed in Parliament. The new-tower exemption sits alongside the broader push under the National Digitalization Programme and complements infrastructure-side commitments around mobile coverage and fixed broadband rollout that the government has framed as a precondition for digital service delivery to provincial Sri Lanka.
The bill also lands as Sri Lanka continues to digitise government workflows — including the new online system for concessionary railway season tickets for state officials launched the same day — and as Parliament processes cabinet-approved digital asset declaration rules under the Anti-Corruption Act.
