Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, who opened the debate on the interim budget, said this tax was introduced to charge a levy from some companies that prospered disproportionately during the tenure of the previous government while making a minimum contribution to the economy. He cited CSN as an example and said it had neither paid the spectrum tax nor the electricity charges.
"CSN has usurped the sports telecasting rights of the state-run television channels and misappropriated the fleet of vehicles assigned to the Presidential Security Division (PSD) for its business operations. That is how it has made huge profits," the minister said adding that one-fourth of the income accrued by these companies will be charged as tax if they had made a profit of Rs.2,000 million or more during the financial year 2013/2014.
