Echelon Magazine - May 2017

In this issue

Tax reforms & special interest

Sri Lanka is readying to re- place its old income tax law with a new, simpler one that is expected to broaden the base, plug loopholes and, more impor- tantly, introduce tough penalties on cheats, making a more potent tax evasion-busting weapon out of the recently installed revenue man- agement system. However, the bill faces a wall of criticism from special interest groups who have the most to loose when the system they have learnt to manipulate is replaced.

It’s important to have a meas- ure of the revenue challenge facing the country. Rich countries, on average, collect taxes equivalent to about 35% of GDP, whereas in poor countries it’s around 13% of GDP. Middle-income countries, where Sri Lanka now belongs, collect around 20% of GDP equivalent in taxes.

Sri Lanka’s tax collection at 11.2% of GDP in 2015, lower than even the Sub-Saharan African av- erage, makes it di cult for it to invest in education, healthcare and infrastructure, which in turn spurs private investment and growth.
Poor country tax collections are low because most of the population is poor. In middle-income countries, many more people should be able to a ord to pay taxes. Sri Lanka’s tax rates are competitive, which doesn’t explain, on the face of it, why they net so little revenue.

As our cover story this month points out, tax dodging is wide- spread, the system has too many loopholes, and tax collecting agen- cies lack autonomy and the capac- ity to be e ective. If these could be xed, the spur to growth, higher taxes, will bene t everybody.

Echelon Magazine Description:

Intelligent Storytelling

The one thing that will define the Echelon magazine will be the quality of the storytelling. Echelon,published monthly, will cover in depth Sri Lanka’s most successful businesses, examine their winning strategiesand profile their leaders in immersive stories. Great stories are also never limited to words, and our approach includes rich photography, bold graphics and leading edge design which together will make for a compelling read.

But business doesn’t start and end in a boardroom;it extends to the golf club greens, to international travel and to pursuits that blurthe lines between commercial venture and sheer passion. The Echelon team will present the best in business and lifestyle coverage that will appeal to an exclusive and affluent readership: an otherwise hard to reach demographic.

Content will be developed by one of the most experienced and proven teams of editors, financial journalists, photographers and designers in the country.This team has already raised the bar for powerful and expertly crafted business news. Shamindra Kulamannage, will lead the editorial team.

The reputation of Echelon is being built on the separation between editorial and advertising. However we are also looking for the most creative and impactful new formats that can be applied in our magazines, iPad app as well as website to help our clients reach our audience. We are flexible and creative and we will have a solution for every single advertiser who wants to reach our audience.

We are passionate about creative results and about working with our advertisers to help them create bespoke multi platform creative solutions with our in house creative team and of course our sales team.

Echelon will be a great place to show off the products and capabilities of our clients because they will be surrounded by an editorial product that is expertly crafted, full of integrity and intelligence.