Sri Lanka

Corporate - Withholding taxes

Last reviewed - 18 January 2021

Resident companies are required to withhold tax at 14% on interest, discount, charge, natural resource payment, rent, royalty, premium or retirement payment, or pay amounts as winnings from a lottery, reward, betting, or gambling, and where the payment or allocation has a source in Sri Lanka.

Every bank and financial institution is required to withhold income tax at 5% on the amount of any interest paid to a company on any sum of money deposited with it. The depositor is entitled to receive a certificate setting out the gross amount of interest, the amount of tax withheld, and the net amount of interest paid. With respect to Treasury bills and Treasury bonds issued by the Central Bank, no WHT is deductible at the time of the sale of the Treasury bills and Treasury bonds by the Central Bank in the primary market.

Payment	WHT rate (%)
Payment	Prior to 1 April 2020	After 1 April 2020
Dividends:
Paid by resident persons	14	-
Non-resident company on remittance of profits (remittance tax)	14	14
Interest paid to non-resident persons	14	5
Interest or discount paid by banks and financial institutions to resident and non-resident persons (WHT will not apply to interest or discount paid to any person on security or Treasury bond or Treasury bill) Interest income up to LKR 250,000 per month shall be exempted from the WHT with effect from 1 January 2020.	5	-
Rent:
Paid to resident persons	10	-
Paid to non-resident persons	14	14
Service fee and contract payments:
Royalty premium to non-resident persons	14	14
Payments to resident individuals exceeding LKR 50,000 (no deduction if such payments are chargeable with ESC)	5	-
Winnings from a lottery, reward, betting, and gambling	14	14
Service fee or an insurance premium with a source in Sri Lanka to a non-resident person (no deductions if such payments are chargeable with ESC), subject to rates specified in DTTs	14	14
Payments made by a person to a non-resident person who is in the business of transport or telecommunication	2	2

Treaty WHT rates

Currently, Sri Lanka has entered into 44 DTTs as set out below:

Recipient	WHT (%)
Recipient	Dividends	Interest	Royalties
Non-treaty	14	14	14
Treaty (9):
Australia	15	10	10
Bangladesh	15	15	15
Belarus	7.5/10 (7)	10	10
Belgium	15	10	10
Canada	15	15	10
China	10	10	10
Denmark	15	10	10
Finland	15	10	10
France	15	10	0/10 (1)
Germany	15	10	10
Hong Kong (4)	-	-	-
India	7.5	10	10
Indonesia	15	15	15
Iran	10	10	8
Italy	15	10	10
Japan	0	15 (2)	0/7.5 (1, 3)
Korea, Republic of	10/15 (5)	10	10
Kuwait (4)	-	-	-
Luxembourg	7.5/10 (7)	10	10
Malaysia	15	10	10
Mauritius	10/15 (6)	10 (2)	10
Nepal	15	10/15 (8)	15
Netherlands	10/15 (5)	10 (2)	10
Norway	15	10	0/10 (1)
Oman (4)	-	-	-
Pakistan	15	10	20
Palestine	10	10	10
Philippines	10	10	10
Poland	15	10	10
Qatar	10	10	10
Romania	12.5	10	10
Russia	10/15 (5)	10	10
Saudi Arabia	-	-	-
Seychelles	7.5/10 (7)	10	10
Singapore	7.5/10 (7)	10	10
Sweden	15	10	10
Switzerland	10/15 (5)	10	10
Thailand	15	10	15
United Arab Emirates	10	10	10
United Kingdom	15	10	10
United States	15	10	10
Vietnam	10	10	15

Notes

0% for copyright royalties.
0% in certain circumstances.
50% of normal tax, which is 7.5%.
These treaties are limited to the avoidance of double taxation of income from international transport by air.
10% applies if the beneficial owner is a company that directly holds at least 25% of the capital of the company paying the dividends. In all other cases, the rate is 15%.
10% applies if the beneficial owner is a company that directly holds at least 10% of the capital of the company paying the dividends. In all other cases, the rate is 15%.
7.5% of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company that directly holds at least 25% of the capital of the company paying the dividends.
10% applies to banking business only.
When the treaty rate is higher than the rate specified by the domestic tax statute, the lower rate can be applied subject to obtaining a confirmation from the International Tax Branch of the tax authority.