Provincial Councils (PC) are packing up plans to increase the Business Turnover Tax (BTT) that was to come into force on April 1. The Provincial Councils say the change of heart is due to pressure from traders and even the central government.
"The Chief Minister for the Western PC, Reginold Cooray, decided on Friday to cancel the BTT increase," said a senior official from the Western PC.
"There was a lot of pressure from the trade and political parties to stop the increase," he said.
The Western PC will issue another gazette this week, cancelling the previous gazettes that said the BTT increase will come into force from April 1.
To stop any trade imbalances, the other PCs have also put the tax increase on hold, until they issue gazette notices cancelling the tax increase in their respective provinces.
"We were notified by the central government to temporarily stop the BTT increase," said an official from the Southern PC Chief Ministers office.
The Southern