Sri Lanka APIT / PAYE Tax Tables
Every band and rate for the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 years of assessment, shown both monthly and annually, with EPF and ETF alongside. Built to be printed or sent to payroll.
Source: Inland Revenue Department — APIT Tax Tables. Sri Lanka's tax year runs 1 April to 31 March.
Sri Lanka income tax rates at a glance (2026/2027)
The first LKR 150,000 a month (LKR 1,800,000 a year) is tax-free. Income above that is taxed progressively at 6%, 18%, 24%, 30% and 36%, each rate applying only to the slice of income inside its band.
Separately, EPF takes 8% from your salary with 12% added by your employer, and ETF adds a further 3% paid entirely by the employer.
Year of assessment 2026/2027
1 Apr 2026 — 31 Mar 2027Personal relief LKR 1,800,000 a year (LKR 150,000 a month). Income at or below that is not taxed.
No rate change has been announced for the 2026/27 year of assessment, so the table introduced on 1 April 2025 carries forward. Confirm against the IRD before relying on it for payroll.
Annual taxable income
| Annual income (LKR) | Rate | Tax on this band |
|---|---|---|
| 0 — 1,800,000 | 0% | Nil |
| 1,800,000 — 2,800,000 | 6% | 60,000 |
| 2,800,000 — 3,300,000 | 18% | 90,000 |
| 3,300,000 — 3,800,000 | 24% | 120,000 |
| 3,800,000 — 4,300,000 | 30% | 150,000 |
| Above 4,300,000 | 36% | — |
Monthly, as the IRD tables present it
Applied to monthly income after the LKR 150,000 relief.
| Monthly taxable income (LKR) | Rate |
|---|---|
| First 83,333.33 | 6% |
| Next 41,666.67 | 18% |
| Next 41,666.67 | 24% |
| Next 41,666.67 | 30% |
| Balance | 36% |
Year of assessment 2025/2026
1 Apr 2025 — 31 Mar 2026Personal relief LKR 1,800,000 a year (LKR 150,000 a month). Income at or below that is not taxed.
Annual taxable income
| Annual income (LKR) | Rate | Tax on this band |
|---|---|---|
| 0 — 1,800,000 | 0% | Nil |
| 1,800,000 — 2,800,000 | 6% | 60,000 |
| 2,800,000 — 3,300,000 | 18% | 90,000 |
| 3,300,000 — 3,800,000 | 24% | 120,000 |
| 3,800,000 — 4,300,000 | 30% | 150,000 |
| Above 4,300,000 | 36% | — |
Monthly, as the IRD tables present it
Applied to monthly income after the LKR 150,000 relief.
| Monthly taxable income (LKR) | Rate |
|---|---|
| First 83,333.33 | 6% |
| Next 41,666.67 | 18% |
| Next 41,666.67 | 24% |
| Next 41,666.67 | 30% |
| Balance | 36% |
EPF and ETF rates
Calculated on gross earnings, not on taxable income. Personal relief does not apply.
| Contribution | Rate | Paid by |
|---|---|---|
| EPF — employee | 8% | You (deducted from your salary) |
| EPF — employer | 12% | Employer (on top of your salary) |
| ETF — employer | 3% | Employer (on top of your salary) |
Only the employee 8% reduces your take-home pay. The employer's 12% and 3% are a cost to the employer — counting them as deductions is the most common error in salary calculations.
Total tax at each band threshold
The tables above give the marginal rate on each slice of income. This shows what that adds up to — the total tax owed by someone whose annual income lands exactly on each band ceiling, for 2026/2027.
| Annual gross | Monthly gross | Annual tax | Monthly tax | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,800,000 | 233,333 | 60,000 | 5,000 | 2.1% |
| 3,300,000 | 275,000 | 150,000 | 12,500 | 4.5% |
| 3,800,000 | 316,667 | 270,000 | 22,500 | 7.1% |
| 4,300,000 | 358,333 | 420,000 | 35,000 | 9.8% |
Gross figures here assume all income is employment income with no other reliefs. The calculator works out any salary, not just these thresholds.
What is the APIT percentage in Sri Lanka?
There is no single percentage, which is why the question is harder to answer than it looks. APIT is progressive: rates run from 6% to 36%, and which one applies depends on how much of your income falls into each band.
Two different numbers get called “your tax rate”, and confusing them is the usual source of alarm:
- Marginal rate — the rate on your next rupee earned. This is the headline number, and the highest one that applies to you.
- Effective rate — total tax as a share of total salary. Always lower, because your first LKR 1,800,000 is untaxed and the bands beneath your top one are charged at lower rates.
Someone on LKR 275,000 a month has a marginal rate of 18% but an effective rate of only 4.5%. When someone says they are “in the 36% bracket”, they almost never pay 36% of their salary.
What changed on 1 April 2025
The Inland Revenue (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2025 rewrote the table. If you are comparing against an older payslip, or against a calculator that has not been updated, this is why the numbers differ.
| What | Until 31 Mar 2025 | From 1 Apr 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Personal relief | LKR 1,200,000 | LKR 1,800,000 |
| Monthly tax-free | LKR 100,000 | LKR 150,000 |
| First band width | LKR 500,000 at 6% | LKR 1,000,000 at 6% |
| 12% band | Applied | Removed |
| Rate progression | 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36% | 6, 18, 24, 30, 36% |
The net effect was a meaningful tax cut, and the biggest proportional saving lands in the middle of the range:
- LKR 150,000 a month: 3,500 → no tax (saving LKR 3,500 a month)
- LKR 200,000 a month: 10,500 → 3,000 (saving LKR 7,500 a month)
- LKR 300,000 a month: 35,000 → 18,500 (saving LKR 16,500 a month)
- LKR 500,000 a month: 104,000 → 86,000 (saving LKR 18,000 a month)
If a calculator still shows a 12% band, it is using the pre-2025 table and will overstate what you owe by roughly these amounts.
Previous years
Kept for reference — for checking an old payslip or an amended return. Do not use these for current payroll.
Year of assessment 2024/2025 — superseded
Personal relief LKR 1,200,000 a year (LKR 100,000 a month).
Which table applies to you
The Inland Revenue Department publishes several APIT tables. Everything on this page is Table No. 01, which covers the common case: a resident employee's regular monthly salary from their primary employment. The others exist because different kinds of payment are deducted differently:
- Secondary employment is deducted under its own table. If you hold two jobs, your second employer does not apply the personal relief again — it has already been used against your primary salary.
- Lump sums— a one-off bonus, gratuity or terminal benefit — are spread and taxed under separate rules rather than simply added to that month's pay.
- Employees who join mid-year have a table that accounts for relief already used earlier in the year of assessment.
- Non-residents and directors' fees are treated separately again.
If your situation is one of those, the figures here are a starting point rather than an answer — check the full set of IRD tables or ask your payroll team.
Using these tables for payroll
Two details cause most of the discrepancies between a payslip and a calculator:
- Annualise first, then divide.Tax is computed on annual income and divided by twelve — not computed on one month's pay. The two give different answers near a band boundary.
- Gross means everything. Taxable employment income includes allowances, overtime and the value of non-cash benefits, not just basic salary. A calculator fed only the basic figure will understate the deduction.
APIT deducted in a month is payable to the Inland Revenue Department by the 15th of the following month. Tax years run 1 April to 31 March, so a rate change announced in a budget normally takes effect at the start of a year of assessment rather than immediately.
Saving or printing these tables
This page is laid out to print cleanly — use your browser's print dialog and choose “Save as PDF” if you need a copy to keep or send to payroll. Navigation and buttons are hidden in the printed version, leaving the tables and the rates. It is deliberately a live page rather than a PDF download, because a PDF goes stale the moment the rates change and there is no way to tell whoever downloaded it. This page is updated in place, and the 2026/2027 and 2025/2026 figures above are current as published by the Inland Revenue Department.
Questions people ask
- How is PAYE tax calculated in Sri Lanka?
- Your annual gross employment income is reduced by the personal relief of LKR 1,800,000 (LKR 150,000 a month). What remains is taxed through progressive bands: 6% on the first LKR 1,000,000, then 18%, 24% and 30% on each subsequent LKR 500,000, and 36% on the balance. The annual figure is divided by twelve to give the monthly deduction. Only the portion falling inside each band is taxed at that band's rate — moving into a higher band never reduces your take-home pay.
- What is the tax-free threshold in Sri Lanka?
- LKR 150,000 a month, or LKR 1,800,000 a year. If your gross monthly salary from a single primary employment is at or below LKR 150,000, no APIT is deducted. This threshold rose from LKR 1,200,000 to LKR 1,800,000 a year on 1 April 2025 under the Inland Revenue (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2025, and the 12% band was removed at the same time.
- What is the difference between PAYE and APIT?
- They are the same deduction. PAYE (Pay As You Earn) was renamed APIT (Advance Personal Income Tax) in 2020. Most employers, payslips and employees still say PAYE, and the Inland Revenue Department's own tables are titled APIT. Nothing about how it is calculated differs.
- What is EPF and ETF in Sri Lanka?
- The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement fund you and your employer both pay into: 8% of your gross salary is deducted from your pay, and your employer adds a further 12The Employees' Trust Fund (ETF) is a separate 3% paid entirely by your employer — nothing is deducted from you for ETF. Both are calculated on gross earnings, not on taxable income, and neither is affected by the personal relief.
- How do I calculate my take-home salary in Sri Lanka?
- Take your gross monthly salary, subtract the 8The employer's 12% EPF and 3% ETF are paid on top of your salary and never come out of it — including them in the deduction is the most common mistake in salary calculations.
- Is EPF deducted before or after tax?
- Neither reduces the other. APIT is calculated on your gross employment income after personal relief, and the employee EPF contribution is calculated separately on gross earnings. Your EPF contribution does not lower your taxable income.
- What are the APIT tax rates for 2026/2027?
- No rate change has been announced for the 2026/2027 year of assessment, so the table introduced on 1 April 2025 carries forward: LKR 1,800,000 personal relief, then 6% on the first LKR 1,000,000 of taxable income, 18%, 24% and 30% on each subsequent LKR 500,000, and 36% above LKR 4,300,000. Budget announcements can change this mid-year, so confirm against the Inland Revenue Department before using it for payroll.
- Is Sri Lanka a tax-free country?
- No. Sri Lanka charges personal income tax on employment income at progressive rates from 6% to 36%. There is a tax-free allowance — the first LKR 1,800,000 a year — but income above it is taxed.
- Do I pay PAYE on a second job in Sri Lanka?
- Yes, but at different rates. This calculator uses Tax Table No. 01, which applies to a resident employee's single primary employment. Secondary employment income is deducted under a separate table, and combining two incomes without accounting for that will understate what you owe. Check with your employer which table applies.
- Does Sri Lanka tax foreign income?
- Residents are taxed on income from Sri Lankan sources, and foreign-source income is treated separately with reliefs and exemptions that have changed several times in recent years. This calculator covers local employment income only. Foreign employment income, freelance income paid from abroad and remittances each have their own rules — take professional advice rather than relying on a salary calculator.
- Is my salary information sent anywhere?
- No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser in JavaScript. Your salary is never transmitted, stored or logged, there is no account, and the page keeps working if you disconnect from the internet after it loads.
- When does Sri Lanka's tax year run?
- From 1 April to 31 March. The 2026/2027 year of assessment covers 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, and 2025/2026 covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Rates announced in a budget usually take effect from the start of a year of assessment.