Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne has endorsed the Social Security Contribution Levy (Amendment) Bill, now gazetted as Act No. 10 of 2026, significantly widening the tax base by lowering the registration threshold from Rs. 60 million to Rs. 36 million in annual turnover.
The amendment, which passed its Third Reading with amendments on April 7-8, brings a larger number of small and medium enterprises into the SSCL net. The levy — a 2.5 percent surcharge on business turnover introduced under the original Act No. 25 of 2022 — has been a key revenue measure under Sri Lanka’s IMF-backed fiscal consolidation programme.
In addition to the threshold reduction, the amendment revises motor vehicle exemptions and introduces updated registration requirements and cancellation-of-registration rules consistent with the new threshold.
The timing is notable: the wider SSCL net arrives as the IMF has concluded its fifth and sixth programme review, with revenue mobilisation remaining a central pillar of the Extended Fund Facility conditions. The expanded base could generate additional revenue from enterprises previously below the Rs. 60 million threshold, though business groups have raised concerns about the compliance burden on smaller operators.
Sources: Newswire, Ada Derana
