Missing 36 Crores from Inland Revenue Department? Find out the truth of this hoax from 2023.

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As public trust in Sri Lanka’s financial institutions had eroded under a growing wave of fraud allegations, a three-year-old news report about unrecorded tax revenue resurfaced on social media, and many assumed it was happening right now.

A screenshot of a Mawbima newspaper article claiming that thirty-six crores out of 694 crores collected through withholding tax had gone missing from the Inland Revenue Department’s data system began circulating widely, with no indication that the story dated back to April 2023. Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka investigated whether this was a new incident or a recycled claim.

Social Media Posts

Several Facebook users responded to the circulating screenshot as though it described a recent financial scandal, calling for accountability and investigations.

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Fact-Check

A search through mainstream media found no recent reports of any incident involving thirty-six crores going missing in the Inland Revenue Department’s (IRD) data system. No television news channel, newspaper, or online outlet had published such a story in 2024 or 2025.

The story traces back to Mawbima Newspaper, dated April 4, 2023. That report, published by Mawbima alone, stated that out of the 694 crores collected as withholding tax during the first quarter of 2023 (January to March), out of which, thirty-six crores were missing in the IRD’s domestic data system. According to the article, a senior spokesperson of the department had provided this information directly to Mawbima at the time. Another news coverage of this matter from 2023 can be seen here, on a website called News19.

At the time of the original report, Ranjith Siyambalapitiya served as State Minister of Finance under a SLPP majority government led by then-President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The report indicated that further investigations into the matter were underway.

No follow-up report, investigation outcome, or official explanation regarding the alleged missing thirty-six crores has been published by any mainstream media outlet in 2023, 2024, or 2025.

Inland Revenue Department

Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka directly contacted the Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department to ascertain whether any recent incident had been reported in which thirty-six crores had gone unrecorded in the department’s data system. The Commissioner General confirmed that no such incident has recently occurred and that no revenue shortfalls of this nature are currently being reported in the data system.

Official Figures Do Not Match the Claim

According to the Official Announcement released by the Inland Revenue Department for Q1 2023, Rs. 25,577 million, approximately 2,557.7 crores, was collected as APIT between January and March 2023. The monthly breakdown was as follows:

Month	APIT Collected (Crores LKR)
January 2023	310.6
February 2023	1,054.0
March 2023	1,193.1
Total (Q1 2023)	~2,557.7

These officially reported figures do not match the “694 crores collected, 36 crores missing” values cited in the social media posts or the original Mawbima report. The significant discrepancy raises further questions about the accuracy of even the 2023 Mawbima figures themselves.

Background: What Is APIT/PAYE Tax?

Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax is deducted monthly by employers from employee salaries and remitted to the Inland Revenue Department. It was abolished with effect from January 1, 2020, and replaced by a voluntary system called APIT (Advance Personal Income Tax). However, from January 1, 2023, the voluntary status was reversed and APIT was made mandatory once again. The tax is still commonly referred to as PAYE in public discourse.

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Conclusion

The social media posts implying that thirty-six crores out of 694 crores collected through withholding tax are currently missing from the Inland Revenue Department’s data system are misleading. The claim originates from a Mawbima newspaper report published on April 4, 2023, and was never independently verified or followed up by any other mainstream outlet.

The Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department confirmed that no such incident is currently being reported currently and back in 2023. Furthermore, official IRD data for Q1 2023 shows total APIT collections of approximately 2,557.7 crores, a figure that does not align with the 694-crore figure cited in the original claim, casting doubt on the accuracy of the underlying source as well.