VAT on financial services will increase to 20.5% with effect from 1 July 2025.
The real story: taxes on financial services currently consist of 18% VAT plus a 2.5% SSC levy, totaling 20.5%. This will be replaced by a single VAT of 20.5%.
It is always good to remove levies, cesses, and taxes like NBT and move toward a single tax with clearly defined thresholds and guidelines. This is also agreed under the IMF program.
This means that a verified account with a paid partnership wants to kidnap me, torture me, and murder me. @elonmusk and his employees at @X refuse to remove this, so it’s clear that they support such a terror operation. This isn’t surprising - after all, they support genocide.
Eid-ul-Fitr, celebrated upon the sighting of the new moon following a month of fasting observed by Muslims across the world, is one of the most significant occasions in the Islamic religious calendar.
Fasting during Ramadan, which constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam, reflects the importance of distancing oneself from worldly desires and embracing a virtuous way of life founded on sacrifice and self-restraint.
The observance of Ramadan conveys a number of profound humanitarian and social messages to the global community. At its core, Ramadan instils compassion within the hearts of the faithful. It nurtures individuals who are willing to empathise with others, understand the pain of hunger as their own, and embrace fellow human beings with compassion and a spirit of brotherhood. During this period, the noble values of peace, equality and coexistence further enrich the conduct of believers. For an entire month, they observe the disciplines of fasting, a time devoted to spiritual nourishment. Therefore, I believe that the season of Ramadan serves as a powerful lesson to the world in humanity and brotherhood through lived example.
This year's Eid-ul-Fitr is being observed at a time when the entire world is facing difficult and challenging circumstances. I sincerely pray that, through the blessings of the observances and prayers of this Ramadan, these challenges will soon subside, giving rise to a world that all aspire to, one in which the rights and freedoms of all are safeguarded, and where peace, prosperity and harmonious coexistence prevail.
As we have successfully overcome challenges in the past, we remain firmly committed, as a government, to confronting this challenge with courage, managing it effectively, and ensuring that the country's economy and the lives of its people continue to progress without hardship or disruption.
Setting aside differences, I call upon everyone to unite with this national effort and extend their steadfast support. I convey my heartfelt wishes to the Muslim community in Sri Lanka and around the world for a peaceful and harmonious Eid-ul-Fitr.
Eid Mubarak!
Anura Kumara Dissanayake
President
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
21 March 2026
Well Amali maybe you're Colombo elite but the country is stable, we're doing well macro economically, we're carefully navigating an international nightmare, corruption is down massively (starting at the top) and the country is safe.
Yeah those clowns' votes helped.
Don't forget many of us clowns living here also voted for them to give them 2/3rd majority in parliament. So don't give the credit to outsiders only .. just give them a tiny credit because 16m voters live at home.
Retired professor VK Tripathi leaves his home in India’s New Delhi every day to hand out flyers about Israel's genocide in Gaza. Despite criticism and confrontations, he says he won’t stop speaking out against injustice.