GMOA, medical consultants sound pessimistic about 2023 due to new tax regime

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Year 2023 would be wore than 2022, Secretary to the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), Dr. Haritha Aluthge said.

“Professionals will be taxed directly and unjustly. Meanwhile, indirect taxes that affect the poor people most, have also been increased. We have tried our best to make the government rethink the tax policy. If they don’t consider our proposals, we will be compelled to resort to action that they understand,” he said.

Meanwhile, President of the Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU), Channa Dissanayake said that they will take union action the day the new taxes come into effect.Dr. R. Gnanasekaram, Secretary of the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS), said the government will take in two months’ worth of salaries as PAYE tax.

“This means we will work for 12 months and get paid for 10 months. Most specialists will leave the country when this tax is implemented,” he said.

Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA), Vice President, Nadish de Silva, also threatened action.According to the amended PAYE tax, a person who earns Rs 150,000 a month will have to pay 2.3 percent of the total income, and the rate jumps to 28.7 percent to a person who earns one million rupees a month.

“While taxes are important, the government must take into account the current ground realities. People are suffering from the crisis and a lot of educated people are leaving the country. These taxes will not only make professionals leave the country, but make it impossible for the common man to live,” he said.

What they are demanding is not a tax exemption to powerful professional groups but a careful reconsideration of the tax policy of the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration, he said.