Sri Lanka Property and Citizenship Guide

Key Facts:

Climate - tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)

Population (2019) - 21,803,000

GDP (Per Capita) (2020) - $4,152

Official language - Sinhala, Tamil

Major religions - Buddhism (70.2%), Hinduism (12.6%), Islam (9.7%), Christianity (7.4%)

Ethnic Groups - Sinhalese (74.9%), Sri Lankan Tamils (11.2%), Sri Lankan Moors (9.2%), Indian Tamils (4.2%)

Government - presidential republic

Currency - Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)

Taxes - Residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents are taxed only on Sri Lankan-source income.

 An individual is deemed to be resident in Sri Lanka if he/she is physically present in Sri Lanka for a period of 183 days or more within 1 year of assessment (1 April of Year 1 to 31 March of Year 2). The concepts of domicile and citizenship are not applicable. If a person is deemed to be resident for 2 or more consecutive years, he/she is deemed to be a resident until absent from Sri Lanka for a continuous period of 12 months. Married couples are assessed separately.

Taxable income is classified under various heads: income from a trade, income from employment, income from rentals, dividends, interest and royalties and other income. There is no capital gains tax in Sri Lanka.

Residency by Investment:

Residence visa is issued to non-Sri Lankans to whom it has been decided to extend residence facilities for the purpose of investment or otherwise, in circumstances where the prescribed authority is satisfied that their stay in Sri Lanka and the pursuit of their vocations are not prejudicial to the best interests of Sri Lanka.

 To obtain a residence visa, the applicant must enter Sri Lanka on an entry visa issued by a Sri Lanka diplomatic mission abroad. Entry visa will be issued by the Embassy only upon approval by the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration. The applicant must clearly state that he/she wishes to apply for a residence visa when applying for the entry visa and submit the necessary supporting documents.

Citizenship by Investment:

To be Updated.

Why it makes sense?

To be Updated.