Court orders Aloysius to state whether outstanding tax will be paid
The Colombo Additional Magistrate, Oshada Migara Maharachchi, has ordered Arjuna Joseph Aloysius, a director of W.M. Mendis & Company, to immediately inform the court whether the company will settle, in full and without further delay, the Rs. 5.8 billion in outstanding Value Added Tax (VAT) allegedly owed to the Government.
The order was issued after the court rejected a request to grant relief in respect of the outstanding tax liability, which the company has been paying in monthly instalments of Rs. 5 million since February 2023.
The Magistrate made the order in response to submissions presented on behalf of the defendant directors.
In reaching the decision, the court took into consideration submissions made by the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue, who argued that no concession should be granted because the statutory period for recovering the taxes had already elapsed and a substantial amount of tax remained unpaid.
The order was

