Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on Thursday criticised the Government’s proposed Section 185A clause, warning it could unfairly criminalise ordinary citizens and small business owners over administrative tax errors.
In a statement, Premadasa said people were “not angry about paying taxes” but were frustrated by what he described as unfair treatment under the proposed law. He alleged that delays in filing tax returns or registration issues could become criminal offences under the clause, with struggling small business owners exposed to the same penalties as individuals deliberately evading millions in taxes.
“That is wrong,” Premadasa said. He accused the Government of taking “the shortcut of criminalising ordinary people” instead of reforming and modernising the Inland Revenue Department and making compliance easier.
The Opposition Leader also questioned the Government’s commitment to tackling corruption and financial crime, asking why stronger action had not been taken against money laundering, financial fraud, and individuals accused of stealing public funds. “Go after the corrupt. Punish real fraudsters hard. But do not weaponise the law against the common man,” he said. The Opposition would continue to oppose laws it believes go against fundamental fairness, he added.
The intervention is the first prominent opposition pushback on the proposed clause. It comes against the backdrop of Inland Revenue’s Rs. 600 billion Q1 2026 revenue performance and an earlier Supreme Court determination that Clause 34 of an IRD Bill was unconstitutional — both signalling rising public and judicial scrutiny of the tax framework that Premadasa argues is now being tightened at the citizen end rather than at the institutional end.
