Vehicle taxes are 37% of Customs revenue — will govt ever actually cut them?

Parliament's Ways and Means Committee was told that Sri Lanka Customs collected Rs. 512.5 billion in tax from the 316,000 vehicles imported in just the first half of 2026 — over 37% of all Customs revenue for that period, more than any other import category combined. Every time there's talk of relaxing import rules or letting prices ease, the Treasury is sitting on numbers like this. One side says this is exactly why the 50% surcharge, the CID, and every other vehicle tax keep getting extended instead of removed — the government is hooked on our car payments to balance the budget, so no minister will kill a goose laying golden eggs. The other side says fair enough, someone has to fund the country, and vehicle buyers are an easy, visible group to tax compared to chasing real tax dodgers elsewhere. If vehicle taxes alone are nearly two-fifths of all Customs income, do you honestly think prices are ever coming down, or are vehicle buyers just the easiest target left to squeeze? රටේ බදු ආදායමින් තුනෙන් එකක් පාහේ එන්නේ වාහන ආනයනයෙන් - මේක කවදාවත් වෙනස් වේවිද?