The organization that is concerned with this is the Department of Inland Revenue.

Commissioner Tax Payer Service Unit, 1st Floor Department of Inland Revenue P. O. Box 515 Chitthampalam A. Gardiner Mawatha Colombo 02 Sri Lanka.

94-11-2328702 94-11-2135135

(Hot line) 94-11-2134170–3

www.inlandrevenue.gov.lk

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED:

(i) Individual Business/Partnership Business:

a. For clearing and forwarding – Certificate of Registration of Business, National identity card/Valid Passport of the owner of the business/partners of the business.

b. For registration of VAT, Economic Service Charge (ESC) & Nation Building Tax (NBT) – Certificate of Registration of Business, Photo Copies of the National Identity card/Valid Passport of the proprietor or partners, necessary documents to verify Business Turnover – Agreements, Bank statements, Withholding Tax Certificates, Invoices etc.

c. For Imports – Certificate of Registration of Business, National Identity card/Valid Passport of the proprietor or partners, Commercial Invoice, Bill of Lading/Airway Bill.

d. For Exports – Certificate of Registration of Business, National Identity Card/Valid Passport of the owner of the Business (Original National Identity Card/Valid Passport of the proprietor or partners), Registration Certificates of Export Development Board (EDB), Coconut Cultivation Board (CCB) (if relevant), Tea Board (if relevant) and license of Gem & Jewellery Authority (if relevant).

Note: Originals together with photocopies of above documents should be submitted in each case.

(ii) Limited Liability Companies: For imports, exports, clearing & forwarding and to register for Income Tax, VAT, ESC, NBT, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Stamp Duty, Withholding Tax, etc.

a. Registered under the Companies Act No. 17 of 1982 (Registered before 03/05/2007) Certificate of Incorporation (Re-registration) – Form 41, Form 40 – certified by the Registrar of Companies, Memorandum of Association/Articles of Association with signatures of the Directors and the Notary Public, NIC/valid passports of the Directors.

b. Registered under the Companies Act No. 07 of 2007 (Registered after 03/05/2007) Certificate of Incorporation – Form 2A, Form 01 – certified by the Registrar of Companies, Articles of Association with signatures of the Directors and the Notary Public, BOI Registration Certificate and BOI Agreement (if relevant), NIC/valid passports of the Directors. 47

Note: Originals together with photocopies of above documents should be submitted in each case (Certified copies of NIC/passports of Directors are valid).

(iii) Limited Companies Certificate of Incorporation – Form 2C – Certified copy of form 01 issued by the Registrar of Companies, Articles of Association with signatures of the Directors, National Identity Cards/Valid passports of the Directors.

Note: originals together with photocopies of above documents should be submitted in each case (Certified copies of NIC/passports of Directors are valid).

(iv) Company limited by guarantee Certificate of incorporation – Form 2D – certified copy of form 5 issued by the Registrar of Companies, Articles of Association with signatures of Directors, Photocopies of the National Identity Cords/Valid Passports of the Directors. Note: originals together with photocopies of above documents should be submitted in each case (Certified copies of NIC/passports of Directors are valid).

(v) Companies Incorporated Outside the Country

a. Registered under the Companies Act No. 17 of 1982 (Registered before 03/05/2007) Certificate of Incorporation, Full address of the registered or principal office of the company (Form 56) – certified by the Registrar of Companies, List of particulars of the directors of a company (Form 57), list of the names and addresses of persons resident in Sri Lanka authorized to accept service on behalf of the company (Form 58), Articles of Association with signatures of the Directors, NIC/valid passports of the Directors.

b. Registered under the Companies Act No. 17 of 1982 (Registered after 03/05/2007) Certificate of Incorporation, Full address of the registered or principal office a company (Form 44) – certified by the Registrar of Companies, list of particulars of the directors of a company (Form 45), list of the names and addresses of persons residing in Sri Lanka authorized to accept service on behalf of the company (Form 46), Articles of Association with signatures of the Directors, NIC/valid passports of the Directors.

Note: Originals together with photocopies of above documents should be submitted in each case (Certified copies of NIC/passports of Directors are valid).

(vi) Other Projects /NGO Request letter of Project Director, Project Agreement, Relevant Certificate of registration

Additional Information: Obtaining permanent or temporary registration for VAT – all business that are involved with import, export, clearing and forwarding are required to submit permanent/temporary VAT registration numbers to the Department of Customs. From VAT 11 or VAT 12 along with the same documents required for TIN number and a photocopy of TIN Certificate should be submitted to the permanent VAT Registration Unit or Taxpayer Services Unit of the Inland Revenue Department to obtain a permanent VAT registration or temporary VAT registration number.

Information courtesy:

Central Bank of Sri Lanka