IRD and Excise Departments sign MoU to combat tax evasion and money laundering

Daily Mirror and EconomyNext report that Sri Lanka’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and Excise Department (ED) have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate against tax evasion and money laundering. Ada Derana also reports that the departments signed an agreement with those aims.

EconomyNext reports that the Finance Ministry said the arrangement will enable the departments to share information, establish a joint mechanism and conduct parallel investigations using the information exchanged. Daily Mirror reports that the departments agreed to share intelligence and carry out parallel investigations into suspected tax evasion and money laundering.

EconomyNext reports that the Ministry expects the initiative to support revenue targets through broader audits, reduced illicit financial flows and more streamlined revenue collection. The outlet says the Ministry situated the agreement alongside Sri Lanka’s third mutual evaluation of efforts against money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. It also reported that tax-evasion offences and offences under the Excise Ordinance were designated as money-laundering-related unlawful activities from August 4, 2026, under an amendment to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

EconomyNext says analysts described longstanding data-sharing and record-system gaps between the departments as obstacles to cross-checking tax filings, production and excise duties, and to identifying possible revenue leakage. The outlet reports that the new coordination is intended to address those shortcomings.

Written automatically by AI from the outlets’ own reports, and not reviewed by an editor. It can be wrong — the original report is the authority.