December 18, Colombo (LNW): Parliamentary Speaker Dr Jagath Wickramaratne announced today that he formally endorsed the certificates for three Bills yesterday, signalling the final stage before they come into effect.
The legislation includes amendments to the Social Security Contribution Levy, the Betting and Gaming Levy, and the Strategic Development Projects framework.
The Social Security Contribution Levy (Amendment) Bill, originally presented to Parliament on October 09, 2025 and passed on December 05, seeks to revise provisions in the Social Security Contribution Levy Act, No. 25 of 2022, strengthening the framework for social security contributions.
Meanwhile, the Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Bill, also passed on December 05, introduces changes to Section 2 of the principal law. Notably, the amendments adjust the levy on gross collections from bookmakers and gambling businesses to 18 per cent from October 01, 2025, limit a previously applied 10 per cent gross collection levy to the period between April 2023 and October 2025, and increase the entrance levy for Sri Lankan casino visitors to USD 100.
The Strategic Development Projects (Amendment) Bill, which entered Parliament on November 14, 2025 and was approved on December 05, introduces significant reforms to the Strategic Development Projects Act, No. 14 of 2008. Among the changes are a reduction of the maximum tax holiday from 25 years to 10 years, a new process for project approval requiring ex-ante cost-benefit analysis by the Ministry of Finance, strengthened ex-post monitoring by the Board of Investment with powers to impose penalties or revoke concessions, mandatory tax return submissions, and an annual report on tax expenditures related to these projects.
Following the Speaker’s certification, the Bills will officially become the Social Security Contribution Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 24 of 2025; the Betting and Gaming Levy (Amendment) Act, No. 25 of 2025; and the Strategic Development Projects (Amendment) Act, No. 26 of 2025.
