Income tax for accountants in Sri Lanka — Y/A 2025/2026
Firm salary under APIT, FD interest taxed at 10%, and CSE dividends where the 15% withholding is the end of it. Work out which schedules you file and what is left to pay.
What did you earn this year?
Pre-filled for your profession — add what applies, skip what doesn't.
A worked example for accountants
Illustrative figures for a typical income mix for accountants — employment salary, bank interest, dividends — using the default amounts below. Your own numbers will differ; use the wizard above for your actual figures.
The 15% dividend WHT being final is the rule accountants know cold for clients but sometimes misapply to their own return — the temptation to net dividend tax against a refund elsewhere doesn't work, because a final tax can never generate a creditable refund even when your overall position is a repayment. Where your firm pays a year-end bonus alongside CSE dividend income, keep the two separate in your own records the way you'd insist a client does: the bonus goes through Tax Table 2 reconciliation on Schedule 1, the dividend never touches the slab base at all. Solar relief is the most commonly missed claim among salaried finance professionals specifically, because the return's default flow doesn't prompt for it the way business-income schedules do — if you installed a residential system in the tax year, the qualifying payment has to be entered manually against the Rs. 600,000 cap. Donation relief is capped at the lower of Rs. 75,000 and a third of taxable income; for a mid-career accountant with a six-figure monthly salary, the fixed cap usually binds first, so donations above roughly Rs. 225,000 in taxable-income terms stop adding relief.
Common questions
- Do dividends go into my progressive slabs?
- No. Dividend withholding at 15% is a final tax, so the dividend stays out of your slab base and the 15% is not creditable against your other income. It is still disclosed on the return.
- Does a salary plus investment income need a full return?
- Yes. APIT covers the salary only. Interest, dividends and any other source have to be brought together on one return so the correct slab rate applies and your APIT and AIT credits are recognised.
- Which reliefs are most often missed?
- The Rs. 600,000 solar installation relief and approved-charity donations. Donations are capped at the lower of Rs. 75,000 and one third of taxable income for individuals.
Work out a single figure instead
Estimate your annual liability across salary, freelance, interest and investment income — with 2025/2026 reliefs applied.
15% withholding on dividends from a resident company — a final tax, not reconciled or refunded.
10% Advance Income Tax withheld on deposit interest — creditable against your return, not a final tax.