Sri Lanka’s ODI captain Charith Asalanka and Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva have filed a petition in the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the Inland Revenue Department’s (IRD) decision to levy Withholding Tax on national cricket players by categorizing them as employees of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
The petition was heard today before a bench comprising Acting Chairman of the Appeals Court, Justice Mohamed Lafar Tahir, and Justice K.P. Fernando. The court ordered that the petition be called on March 28 for further confirmation of facts.
The Commissioner General of Inland Revenue, the Deputy Commissioner, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), its Executive Committee members, the Auditor General, and several others have been named as respondentsin the petition.
The petitioners argue that since Sri Lanka was awarded Test cricket status in 1983, players have signed written contracts with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, particularly after winning the 1996 World Cup. However, the SLC Executive Committee, at a meeting on January 17, decided to classify national players under contractual employment, rather than as independent service providers.
Asalanka and de Silva claim that this decision is unlawful, stating that national-level players are not part of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) or the Employees’ Trust Fund (ETF) and do not receive such benefits. After obtaining legal advice, they assert that they are not employees of SLC but independent contractors.
Despite this, the IRD has imposed a Withholding Tax, leading to financial disadvantages for national cricketers. The petitioners are requesting the Court of Appeal to:
- Quash the decision of Sri Lanka Cricket to classify players as employees.
- Overturn the Inland Revenue Department’s decision to levy Withholding Tax.
- Issue an interim injunction preventing the implementation of the Withholding Tax until a final decision is reached.
