January 02, Colombo (LNW): Comprehensive inspections will be carried out from today (02), to ascertain whether businesses have impartially adjusted their product prices in accordance with the recent modifications in the value-added tax (VAT), the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) disclosed.
These inspections are slated to cover a wide spectrum of retail establishments across the entirety of the island, following reports on certain businesses unfairly increasing the prices of commodities in the guise of VAT revision.
Despite the overall VAT increase to 18 per cent, specific commodities subject to the pre-existing 15 per cent VAT until yesterday will only experience a marginal 3 per cent increment.
Consequently, the revised VAT rates are not universally applicable to all goods and services.
Nevertheless, the CAA underscored that it is committed to enforcing the law uniformly, pledging to take action against businesses found selling goods above the stipulated prices, irrespective of their social statuses.
