10/09/2026
If Sri Lanka is serious about building a modern, efficient and trusted revenue administration, we need to start with a fundamental question:
Who are we recruiting to collect the nation’s revenue?
The Inland Revenue Department is not just another government institution. It is one of the most important institutions in the country. Its decisions affect businesses, investors, employees, entrepreneurs and ultimately the confidence people have in the State.
Yet, we often focus almost entirely on tax laws, tax rates, targets, systems and technology, while paying insufficient attention to the most important asset of a revenue administration:
its people.
A high-performing revenue service needs officers who possess much more than knowledge of tax legislation. Recruitment, selection, promotion and continuous development should place genuine emphasis on at least six areas:
1. Education and technical knowledge – a strong foundation in accounting, economics, law, finance and business.
2. Experience and practical understanding – an ability to understand how businesses actually operate, rather than applying rules mechanically.
3. Attitude and integrity – professionalism, fairness, sound judgment and respect for the taxpayer.
4. People skills – the ability to communicate, listen, understand circumstances and distinguish between an honest mistake, negligence and deliberate fraud.
5. Language and communication skills – the ability to communicate clearly and professionally with taxpayers and their advisers.
6. Digital and IT capability – at least the basic ability to work confidently with modern digital systems and data.
Why does this matter now?
I say this based on what I have personally observed in recent years.
There has been a worrying decline in the quality of some interactions between revenue officials and taxpayers. This is not a criticism of all officers. There are many capable, committed and professional people within the Department.
But unfortunately, the proportion of interactions where basic professionalism, business understanding, accounting knowledge and even basic human courtesy appear to be missing has become increasingly concerning.
This is particularly noticeable when compared with many of the revenue officials we worked with in the past, officers who could understand a business, engage with its management and advisers, exercise judgment and still enforce the law firmly.
A revenue officer does not need to be a businessperson. But a good revenue officer must understand business.
Likewise, taxpayers should not be treated as guilty simply because they have made an error. At the same time, deliberate tax evasion and fraud must be dealt with firmly.
The distinction is not difficult for a professional revenue service:
-Enforce the law firmly.
-Treat people fairly.
-Exercise judgment intelligently.
-And always act professionally.
Revenue administration should never become an exercise in intimidation. The objective should be compliance, not confrontation.
The Government has a bigger responsibility
If we want higher and more sustainable tax revenue, we cannot build it solely through increased enforcement and increasingly complex legislation.
We need to build institutional capability.
That means recruiting the best people available, giving them proper training, developing their professional skills, rewarding competence, holding them accountable and creating a culture where professionalism is non-negotiable.
The quality of a revenue authority ultimately determines the quality of the relationship between the taxpayer and the State.
And that relationship matters enormously to investment.
A business may accept a tax liability. It may even accept a tough tax regime.
What businesses find much harder to accept is unpredictability, poor judgment, disrespect and unprofessional administration.
If we allow standards within revenue administration to deteriorate, we should not be surprised if businesses and investors increasingly question whether Sri Lanka is a place where they want to establish, remain and grow.
This is therefore not simply about the Inland Revenue Department.
It is about the quality of the State itself.
Sri Lanka needs a revenue service that is respected not because taxpayers fear it, but because they recognise its competence, fairness and professionalism.
So, when we recruit the people who will administer the nation's taxes:
