VAT a way to attract tourists By Damith Wickremasekara View(s): View(s):Tourists, while leaving the country, will be entitled to obtain refunds on Value Added Tax (VAT) payments for goods they buy in Sri Lanka from next month, a senior official said. The Inland Revenue Department’s Deputy Commissioner General, Nadun Guruge, said the Tourist VAT Refund System (TVRS) was aimed at attracting tourists and generating income by sale of products. He said that from June 1, the tourists would be able to obtain the VAT refund –15 percent of the value of the good — at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and other ports after the bills were produced. The official said there was a similar scheme in Singapore where there was now fully automated system tax repayment for tourists. He said Sri Lanka would initially introduce the VAT refund manually but hoped to automate it in a year or two.Mr.

Source: Sunday Times May 05, 2018 19:06 UTC