SRI LANKA NEWS IN BRIEF – JULY 2017 Compiled by Victor Melder Sri Lanka’s tax revenues rose 25.6 percent to 554.2 billion rupees in the first four months of 2017 from a year earlier, helped by value added taxes, though excise revenues fell amid sharp hikes in tobacco and alcohol levies, official data shows. Taxes were short of ambitious targets set for the first four months of 576.5 billion rupees, but actual revenues were very sharply up from a year earlier on key categories, amid reforms in administration and value added tax. Net value added taxes after refunds rose 91 percent to 152.3 billion rupees. The current administration ended many exemptions to value added tax including alcohol and tobacco and hiked the rate to a single 15 percent rate which makes administration easy. Value added tax on domestic products jumped 88.6 percent to 96.811 billion rupees, revenues from nation building ...