The government of Sri Lanka has approved issuing licenses to the island nation’s four casinos as a way to recoup tax revenues the Inland Revenue Department says it is owed.
The issuing of licenses occurred just as the country was sinking into chaos, with mobs overrunning the presidential palace as the country erupted in protests of high inflation and a general collapse of infrastructure.
The Department says the casinos owe Rs 2.67 billion (US$7.4 million) in taxes. It had been unable to collect that amount despite the passage of Act No. 17 of 2010 and the Betting and Gaming Levy Act No. 40 of 1988 by Parliament.
The Department has proposed increasing the annual levy on casinos from Rs 200 million (US$555,000) to Rs 500 million (US$1.4 million).
The country’s so-called “casino king” Dhammika Perera was appointed Investment Minister several weeks ago. His job was to turn the economy around after the country defaulted on US$51 billion foreign debt in May. Perera holds three of the four casino licenses.
