Parliament passes VAT (Amendment) Bill 

by Saman Indrajith

Parliament yesterday passed the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill with amendments by a majority of 45 votes.

Announcing the results of the final vote, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that 100 had voted in favour of the Bill while 55 had opposed it.

The SJB, JVP-led NPP and SLPP dissident MPs voted against the Bill while the TNA was absent at the time of voting.

After the allocated time lapsed for the Budget 2024’s committee stage debate, the Second Reading of the VAT (Amendment) Bill was moved and a vote was taken; the Bill was passed with a majority of 57 votes with 98 government voting for the Bill and 41 votes against it.

When the House commenced sitting, the government proposed that the suspended debate on the VAT (Amendment) Bill should be taken up for the debate after the end of yesterday’s proceedings on the Budget debate.

The Opposition parties opposed the VAT (Amendment) Bill for debate and Speaker Abeywardena decided to put the matter to a vote.

Vote ended with the government winning with a majority of 51 votes to take the VAT (Amendment) Bill for the debate yesterday evening. There were 92 votes for the motion to take up the Bill for the debate and 41 votes against it while there was one abstaining to vote.

Chief Government Whip Housing Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that Sunday (10) was allocated for the Second Reading debate on VAT and the allocation was made with the consent of the Opposition. “It was with their agreement we allotted the time for the debate. Then they have a duty to participate in the debate. Instead, they deliberately stepped away from the debate and called for a quorum. The Opposition behaved irresponsibly. Everybody knows where this country was months back. We have been able to achieve some stability. It is grossly unfair of the Opposition to try to sabotage this debate,” he said.