Parliamentarian S.M. Marikkar has raised serious concerns regarding the ongoing coconut oil tax irregularities, stating that despite bringing the issue to the attention of Parliament on four separate occasions, no action has been taken by the authorities to date.
He emphasized that Value Added Tax (VAT) is legally required when selling unrefined imported coconut oil. However, since January of last year, VAT has reportedly not been collected on such sales. “I have spoken about this four times in Parliament. In February, I specifically questioned the Prime Minister regarding this issue,” Marikkar stated.
According to him, the government has suffered a loss exceeding Rs. 6 billion in tax revenue. He further noted that the Prime Minister himself acknowledged in Parliament that VAT must be paid if unrefined coconut oil is imported, refined locally, and then sold.
“Despite the clear loss of more than Rs. 6 billion in tax revenue, the government has yet to take any measures to recover the funds,” Marikkar added, calling for urgent accountability and corrective action.
