Finance State Minister’s clarification regarding CESS tax on stationery items

The CESS tax proposed in the 2023 Budget is not applicable to stationery items and equipment used by schoolchildren, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says.

He mentioned this while delivering a special statement in the parliament this morning (Nov. 19). He addressed the concerns raised about the increase in the prices of stationery items following the CESS tax revision.

The state minister stressed that the prices of imported textbooks, notebooks, pencils, erasers and paper materials used to produce notebooks have not been revised due to the CESS tax revision which was made effective from November 15, 2022.

Accordingly, the prices of these items – locally-produced or imported – have not been subjected to any changes due to the amendments made to the CESS tax, he explained.

The state minister further stated that the CESS tax is imposed based on the import value, when substitutes for the imported items are produced locally.

Thereby, the CESS tax on imported ballpoint pens, shoes and bags was amended to reflect the USD exchange rate. As a result, the prices of these imported items are likely to see an increase, however, the prices of locally-produced stationery items have not been raised, Siyambalapitiya noted.