COLOMBO : Sri Lanka’s requirement for citizens aged 18 and above to obtain a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) raises a pertinent question: Why introduce another identification number when every citizen already possesses a National Identity Card (NIC)?
A practical alternative would be to automatically link every citizen’s NIC to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) database and use the NIC as the reference for all individual tax-related transactions. .
Requiring citizens to register, remember and produce multiple identification numbers creates unnecessary bureaucracy, increases administrative costs and inconveniences the public, particularly senior citizens.
The Government should prioritise digital integration and simplify public services.
A tax system should make compliance easier, not make life more complicated for citizens
Mohamed Zahran
Colombo
