Vehicle taxes alone got Customs past its 2026 target by October — should duties drop now?

Sri Lanka Customs hit its full Rs. 2,208 billion revenue target for 2026 by October 13 — more than two months ahead of schedule — and vehicle import taxes did most of the heavy lifting. In just the first six months of the year, 316,000 vehicles were imported, generating around Rs. 512 billion in taxes alone, even with the 50% duty surcharge still in place. One camp says this proves the government doesn't need the current tax levels anymore — if the target is already smashed, there's no fiscal justification to keep squeezing buyers, and duties should ease once the surcharge period ends. The other camp says the opposite: the Treasury has just discovered how reliable vehicle taxes are as a cash cow, and a government this far ahead of target has every reason to keep the tap open, maybe even longer than December. So which is it — does smashing the target this early mean there's room to cut, or does it just prove vehicles are too easy a target to tax? If you're holding off on a purchase waiting for duties to fall, what exactly are you waiting to see change? රජයට බලාපොරොත්තු වූ ආදායම වාහන බද්දෙන්ම ඉක්මවා ගිහින් - දැන් බද්ද අඩු වෙයිද, නැත්නම් දිගටම මෙහෙමම යනවද?