Do government doctors pay tax on private practice?

Yes. APIT deducted from your government salary does not cover channelling or private-practice income. That income is added to your salary, taxed at your marginal rate, and declared in your IIT return. Any withholding tax the hospitals already deducted is credited against the final bill, so you are not taxed twice.

How is channelling income taxed for doctors in Sri Lanka?

Channelling and consultation fees are professional income. Hospitals usually deduct 5% withholding tax (WHT) when they pay you — but that WHT is a credit, not the final tax. Your fees across every hospital are added to your other income, taxed at the progressive IIT rates for the assessment year, and the 5% already withheld is offset against what you owe.

Is dispensary or pharmacy income taxable?

Yes. A dispensary or pharmacy is a trading business, so its profit — sales minus the cost of stock and allowable running costs — is business income and forms part of your IIT. It is treated differently from consultation fees: you deduct expenses and cost of goods rather than applying a flat rate, so keeping stock and expense records matters.

How much income tax does a doctor pay in Sri Lanka?

It depends on total income. The Y/A 2025/2026 rates apply progressively to income above the tax-free threshold, and a doctor combining a salary, channelling fees and dispensary profit usually reaches the higher marginal bands. TaxWise computes the exact figure from the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Act rates and credits the APIT and WHT already deducted.

Does TaxWise file my tax return with the IRD?

No. TaxWise calculates your liability and generates IRD-ready schedules across all your income sources. You review, export, and submit the return yourself through the IRD's official e-Filing portal — filing remains your responsibility.

Tax for Doctors in Sri Lanka 2025/2026

Do doctors pay income tax in Sri Lanka?

Yes. Every doctor pays Individual Income Tax on total income for the year: a hospital or government salary, channelling and consultation fees, dispensary earnings, locum work, rent and investments. APIT covers the salary. Everything else you declare yourself. TaxWise brings it all together, credits the WHT already withheld, tracks your SET instalments and prepares one set of schedules for Y/A 2025/2026.

Built for both

Consultants and GPs: the same gap, a different shape.

Whichever kind of practice you run, the problem is income the APIT on your salary never touched.

Consultants and specialists

Channelling across several hospitals, plus a government or teaching-hospital post.

Government or hospital salary (APIT)
Channelling fees from Hospital A, B, C
Consultation and procedure income
Rent, dividends and FD interest

GPs and family physicians

A private practice or clinic, often with a dispensary alongside it.

Private practice and clinic fees
Dispensary or pharmacy sales (business)
Locum and visiting-MO sessions
Government OPD salary (APIT), if any

Why a doctor’s tax is different

Four gaps a once-a-year filing can’t see.

Practice income, everywhere

Channelling across hospitals, or clinic and dispensary takings: self-declared, on different statements, and reconciled by nobody until filing season.

WHT credits that leak

Hospitals deduct 5% on your fees; banks take 10% AIT on interest. Miss a certificate and you pay your own money twice. TaxWise captures each one and sets it off.

APIT covers the salary, not the rest

A government or OPD salary has APIT taken at source, so it feels handled. Channelling, clinic and dispensary income doesn’t, and that gap is yours alone.

SET and quarterly instalments

Professional and business income outside PAYE means estimating your tax and paying it in four instalments. Underpay or miss a date and penalties follow.

Your whole picture

Every income stream, one correct return.

Fees and dispensary takings are taxed differently. TaxWise puts each in its own cage.

Income source	Type	How TaxWise handles it
Government, hospital or OPD salary	Employment	APIT already taken, credited automatically
Channelling and consultation fees	Professional	Brought together across hospitals; 5% WHT set off as a credit
Locum and visiting-MO sessions	Professional	Added to your fee income, taxed on the slabs
Dispensary or pharmacy sales	Business	Trading profit: sales minus stock and running costs
Rental property	Rent	25% upkeep allowance applied automatically
FD interest and share dividends	Investment	10% AIT on interest credited; dividends taxed at 15% final

You already have an advisor

Keep your accountant. Get your own view.

TaxWise isn’t a replacement. It’s the dashboard you’ve never had between filings.

Your accountant files

They prepare and sign off the annual return, as they always have. Nothing about that changes.

TaxWise gives you the view

Between filings you see your live position: every fee, every dispensary month, every credit, and what you’ll owe.

Nothing slips through

A once-a-year filing can’t catch a WHT certificate from eight months ago. A running record can.

The four-plus-one schedule

Your SET schedule, tracked for you.

Pro estimates each instalment from your live practice income and reminds you before it’s due.

15 Aug 2025Instalment 1A quarter of your estimated tax for the yearPassed
15 Nov 2025Instalment 2Re-estimated on your first-half actualsPassed
15 Feb 2026Instalment 3Nine-month checkPassed
15 May 2026Instalment 4Last instalment: settle estimate against actualPassed
30 Nov 2026Annual returnSubmit the full return for Y/A 2025/2026Open now

It’s October 2026. All four 2025/26 instalments and the 30 September 2026 final-balance date have passed. Missed some? Get your return in by 30 November and settle what’s left as soon as you can; late payment can attract penalties and interest. Pro estimates each instalment from what you’ve earned so far and reminds you before the next one.

Doctors and tax · common questions

Straight answers, current for 2025/2026.

Yes. Doctors pay Individual Income Tax (IIT) on their total income for the year — a hospital or government salary, channelling and consultation fees, dispensary or pharmacy earnings, locum work, rent and investments. A salaried post has APIT deducted at source, but private-practice income is self-declared in your annual IIT return.

Find your tax profile

Hospital salary, channelling income and bank interest pull in different directions. Answer five questions and see which schedules you file and what the year comes to.

Answer five questions

Get filing-ready for 2025/2026.

Your first estimate in about a minute. Free for salary and bank interest. No card needed.

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Return for Y/A 2025/2026 due 30 November 2026