25,508 Duty-Free Vehicle Permits in Limbo — Cancel Them for Good in Budget 2027?

As of mid-2025, more than 25,508 duty-free vehicle import permits had been issued to public servants, but actually using them to bring in a car has been suspended for years as part of the IMF-backed recovery programme. Budget 2027, due later this month, is expected to go further and scrap the whole scheme, cancelling those outstanding permits for good — officials have estimated that honouring every one of them could cost the Treasury around 0.6% of GDP in forgone tax. Public servants holding permits say a promise is a promise: many planned their finances around finally getting a car this way and shouldn't have to pay for the state's budget problems. Critics say it was always an unfair perk funded by everyone else, since ordinary buyers pay full duty on every vehicle they import — scrapping it finally levels the field. If you're a public servant holding one of these permits, what's your plan now that it might be cancelled? And for the rest of us — is killing the scheme overdue fairness, or breaking a promise made to people who were counting on it? රජයේ සේවකයින්ට දුන්න බදු නිදහස් පර්මිට් එක සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම අහෝසි කරන එක හරිද?