The Court of Appeal yesterday sought clarification from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on whether recent amendments to the Inland Revenue Act affect an ongoing tax dispute involving Sri Lanka’s national men’s and women’s cricket captains before delivering its judgement.
The writ applications were heard before a bench comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya, PC and Justice K. Priyantha Fernando.
The Court noted that Parliament had recently amended the Inland Revenue Act to classify ‘sports persons’ as Independent Service Providers (ISPs), a category that does not attract Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT), and asked the IRD whether it would reconsider the decision under challenge in light of the legislative change.
Deputy Solicitor General Manohara Jayasinghe, appearing for the IRD, submitted that the amendment had no bearing on the case, maintaining that national cricketers are employees because they are engaged under contracts with Sri Lanka Cricket and urging the Court to proceed with its judgement.
Appearing for the male national captains, Counsel Nishan Sydney Premathiratne argued that the amendment reflected Parliament’s intention to classify sports persons as ISPs alongside professionals such as doctors, lawyers, architects, and singers rather than as employees for tax purposes.
He told the Court that national cricketers had been treated as ISPs for more than 15 years before the IRD reclassified them as employees to impose APIT. He also said payments due to the players over the past seven months had been withheld because of the dispute.
The Court said it had already prepared its judgement but deferred delivery to obtain clarification on the implications of the legislative amendment.
The bench granted both parties one week to file written submissions and fixed 31 August for judgement.