Court quashes APIT imposed on national cricketers

The Court of Appeal on Monday issued a writ order quashing the decision of the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue to impose Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT) on members of Sri Lanka’s national Test and ODI cricket teams.

The order was issued when the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment on petitions filed by a group of national cricketers challenging the Inland Revenue Department’s decision to treat them as employees of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and deduct APIT from their payments.

The petitioners included Sri Lanka Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva, then ODI captain Charith Asalanka and several members of the national women’s cricket team.

During the hearing, the Court observed that recent amendments to the Inland Revenue Act had introduced a separate category for independent service providers, and that persons falling within this category were not liable to APIT.

However, the Court made clear that its order was without prejudice to any decision that the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue may make on the matter in the future.