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For Year of Assessment 2025/2026, Sri Lanka's personal relief stands at LKR 1,800,000 per resident individual. That figure is the statutory tax-free threshold every resident is automatically entitled to — no application, no claim form. It is deducted from your assessable income before any progressive tax slab applies.
The relief increased from LKR 1,200,000 in YoA 2024/2025 under the Inland Revenue Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025. The same Act removed the 12% bracket from the progressive schedule and widened the 6% bracket from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 1,000,000, so the combined effect on most middle-income taxpayers is a meaningful reduction in effective rate.
Personal relief applies against your progressive-tax assessable income — that is, employment income, business income, rental income, and other income that flows through the five-slab schedule. It does not apply against:
The personal relief is set in the First Schedule to the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017, as amended by the Inland Revenue Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025. Tax Table No. 01, used by employers for APIT, derives the monthly Rs. 150,000 deduction threshold directly from this Rs. 1,800,000 annual figure.
Common follow-ups on this topic.
Every resident individual qualifies automatically. There is no application process. If you are tax-resident in Sri Lanka for the Year of Assessment, the Rs. 1,800,000 relief is deducted from your assessable income before the progressive slabs apply. Non-residents do not receive this relief.
Yes. Personal relief increased from Rs. 1,200,000 in YoA 2024/2025 to Rs. 1,800,000 for YoA 2025/2026 under the Inland Revenue Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025. This is a Rs. 600,000 increase that benefits every resident taxpayer with assessable income.
No. Dividends and bank interest paid to resident individuals are subject to final Withholding Tax (15% on dividends, 10% on interest). They are excluded from the progressive tax calculation entirely, so personal relief cannot reduce that final WHT.
No. Personal relief under the First Schedule is only available to resident individuals. Non-residents are taxed on their Sri Lankan-source income at the applicable rates without this Rs. 1,800,000 deduction.
Employers deduct APIT only once an employee's monthly regular profits exceed Rs. 150,000 — which is the Rs. 1,800,000 annual personal relief spread across 12 months under Tax Table No. 01. Below that monthly figure, no APIT is deducted because the income still falls within the relief.
Taxable handles personal relief, slabs, quarterly instalments, WHT, and APIT credits automatically as you record transactions.
Verified against the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017 (as amended by Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025). Last reviewed .