- 01
When did section 35, as replaced, commence — and does this employer’s licence predate it? The answer decides whether employment income is exempt at all, and for how long.
- 02
Are Regulations No. 1 of 2025 still the regulations in force under sections 52(2) and 52(7) on the day the question is asked, and has anything been made since? The forty-year figure is no longer in the Act, and what replaced it is prescribed rather than enacted — which means it can be replaced again without a Bill.
- 03
Regulation 8 gives Regulations No. 1 of 2025 a life of five years from their coming into operation, and regulation 7 makes the incentives non-negotiable and non-renewable. What becomes of a fifteen-year holiday granted under a five-year regulation, and does the section 32 agreement answer the question or leave it open?
- 04
Which prescribed category does this investment fall into, on what valuation of the plot; when does its project implementation period end, given that the holiday only starts when it does; and what happens to the designation if the job numbers are not reached?
- 05
What key performance indicators would attach to the designation, and can the sponsor live with the consequences of missing them under section 52A(3), and with publication under section 52A(1)?
- 06
Does the section 32 agreement embody the incentives granted, as section 52(4) requires?
- 07
Does this buyer fall inside or outside the Land (Restrictions on Alienation) Act, No. 38 of 2014 — and what could move it across that line during the life of the holding?
- 08
On a rupee purchase, what does the section 39 remittance obligation do to the return, and to what account must the proceeds be remitted?
- 09
Does the dispute clause comply with section 62(3), and does any earlier tier depend on an enactment Schedule III disapplies?
- 10
For a bank, is it licensed under this Act or under the Banking Act — section 51A — and which supervisory regime follows?
- 11
Does the transaction need access to the domestic Sri Lankan market, and has a section 37 authorisation been obtained rather than assumed?
The questions are set out because a sponsor is entitled to know what turns on what before deciding whether to take advice. The answers are not, because they do not exist in the abstract: each depends on the transaction, on the documents, and on the state of the regulations, the Gazette and the Commission’s practice on the day the question is asked. Working them through on a given set of facts is what instructing counsel is for.
