By Captain CoCo
Captain CoCo has been hearing some interesting stories from postmasters in different parts of the country. And honestly, what they are reporting is something we cannot simply ignore.
According to these reports, around one million pink-coloured letters sent by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) are getting stuck in post offices because they have incomplete or incorrect addresses. Postal officers cannot deliver them, so the letters are being sent back to the IRD.
Now, stop for a moment and think about this!
Who pays for printing these letters? Who pays for postage? And who pays for all this trouble when the letters cannot even reach the people they are supposed to reach?
You guessed it! We, the taxpayers, pay the bill.
What a waste of public money!
But the big question is, why did this happen in the first place?
Let’s look at the bigger picture.
The IMF does not just give money to Sri Lanka and walk away. It checks whether the country is doing what it promised under the programme. Increasing government revenue, improving tax collection, and getting more people into the tax system are important parts of these efforts.
The IRD has a big role to play here. Getting more people registered, encouraging them to submit tax returns, and collecting the taxes legally due are all important.
But Captain CoCo has a simple question.
Are we really expanding the tax base, or are we just playing a numbers game to show the IMF that we are doing a great job?
There are concerns that taxpayer records may have been created using incomplete or unverified information. If the main aim was to increase registration numbers quickly, without checking whether the information was correct, then we have a serious problem.
Come on! You cannot send a letter to someone when you don’t even have their proper address. Isn’t that common sense?
Before spending public money on printing and posting letters, shouldn’t someone check whether those letters can actually be delivered?
Who checked the addresses? Who approved this exercise? Didn’t anyone think about the cost? And now that these letters are coming back, who is going to answer for this mess?
Of course, reminding people to submit their tax returns is nothing wrong. The IRD has every right to encourage taxpayers to meet their legal obligations. But sending millions of letters using poor-quality data is not the same as improving tax compliance.
Let’s get one thing straight. Increasing the number of registered taxpayers on paper does not automatically mean more people are paying taxes or submitting their returns.
The IRD must explain what went wrong. The Ministry of Finance must also step in, call for a proper report, find out how much public money has been wasted, and make sure this does not happen again.
Captain CoCo is not against paying taxes. We need tax revenue to run the country. But public money must be spent wisely. Every rupee belongs to the people who work hard to earn it.
So, are we trying to impress the IMF with impressive figures while ignoring the basic problems on the ground?
Maybe the numbers look good in a report. But what is the point if the letters never reach their destinations?
Captain CoCo wants answers, not excuses!
The IMF may check the numbers, but the people have every right to check what is happening behind those numbers.
If this has happened because of poor planning, careless work, or pressure to meet targets, let’s find out the truth. No one should be accused without evidence, but no one should escape accountability either.
Because the real question is not whether we can keep the IMF happy.
It is whether we can stop wasting public money, fix our mistakes, and build a tax system that actually works.
One million letters, millions of rupees at risk, and one big question: WHO IS GOING TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY?