Sri Lanka allows foreigners to buy land

The government is bringing in sweeping changes to recent restrictions imposed on foreign ownership of businesses and property to promote foreign investments, government officials said.

The Finance Ministry will issue a circular indicating these changes following the Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera’s endorsement of these decisions, reversing a budget decision.

In a 180-degree turn from the recent decision and subsequent action to prohibit foreign ownership of business and property in Sri Lanka under the 2013 budget proposal, the government will revert to the earlier practice of allowing foreigners to take up full ownership of businesses and property, if their investments in the project is over US $10 million, they revealed.

Earlier – before the budget proposal – a foreigner or a foreign company was entitled to buy land without paying 100 per cent land tax if their investment for the whole project was over US$10 million

Sri Lanka’s new regulation on foreign ownership of property is similar to the previous practice which was in existence before the year 2004.

However it will have additional, new provisions where foreigners can lease land but would be subject to a land tax of 5 to 10 per cent, Minister for Investment Promotion Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana told the Business TimesThis is a new provision since there was no tax on lands leased by foreigners, earlier.

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(Source: Sunday Times)

Sri Lanka to set tax of around 10-pct for foreigners leasing land

 Sri Lanka's new restrictions on foreign ownership of property will have provisions that will allow non-nationals investing in the country to lease land with a tax of 5 to 15 percent, senior government officials said.

Investment promotion minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said it was the policy of the administration to stop the sale of land outright to foreigners but foreign investors will be allowed to lease land for up to 99 years, after paying a tax.

"We will allow foreigners to lease land and we have requested that the tax be kept below 10 percent," minister Abeywardena said.

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(Source: LBO)

CID exposes huge land rackets

Racketeers including notaries public and land sale dealers have been taken into custory for large-scale illegal land grabbing in Colombo and the suburbs, Criminal Investigations Department (CID) detectives said. At least 30 such groups have been arrested so far after the CID probed some 4,300 complaints made following a Defence Ministry announcements calling on victims to inform the CID, the detectives said.

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(Source: Sunday Times)