Notices

Based on  the 2022 interim budget passed in the Parliament on the 30th of August  2022, the below proposals will be effective subject to the legislation being issued to this effect in due course.

Accordingly, the changes are expected to come in to effect under Withholding tax (WHT) or Advanced Income Tax (AIT) with effect from 1st October, 2022

a) Making Advance Income Tax (AIT) or Withholding tax (WHT) mandatory on interest income

b) Considering WHT/AIT on Interest Income of individual taxpayers as a final payment

c) Deduction of AIT/WHT from Interest payments of both Resident and Non-resident persons at the rate of 5% with the exception for senior citizens with a relief up to LKR 1.5 million p.a., subject to the declaration being submitted to the Bank

The above is a factual presentation of the proposals as they were presented and we are yet to ascertain the specific details on any exemptions (excluding senior citizens accounts) applicable for any specific account types / persons.
Once the relevant legislation  is passed to this effect the Bank will be enacting the changes with immediate effect and will proceed to charge WHT accordingly and will be communicating the details regarding any other exemptions granted.

In the case of senior citizen deposit holders, a declaration (to be confirmed upon legislation being issued) should be submitted to obtain the benefit of the relief of interest income up to LKR 1.5 million per annum and the Bank will announce a deadline within which the declaration is required to be submitted. WHT charged on senior citizen’s interest income up to such deadline will be reversed in line with the details submitted via the aforementioned declaration.

Please note as defined by the Inland Revenue Act a “senior citizen” with respect to a year of assessment means an individual who is –

(a) a citizen of Sri Lanka during the year of assessment;

(b) resident in Sri Lanka for the year of assessment; and

(c) who is sixty years old or above at any time during the year of assessment.

* In the case where a declaration is not submitted to the Bank, the Bank will apply 5% WHT on the full interest payment earned on deposits held by senior citizens.

Thank you for banking with HSBC.

Dear Cardholder,

Please note that with effect from 1 September 2022, HSBC's Credit Card interest rates will be revised to 36% for both Purchases and Cash transactions. The new rate will be applicable to you from your next billing period.

eg.1) If the billing date is on 3 September, the new rate will be applicable from 4 September 2022.

     2) If the billing date is on 24 September, the new rate will be applicable from 25 September 2022.

For more details on the tariff click here.

From 18 July 2022, debit card purchase transactions effected in foreign currencies through the VISA network will be converted into Sri Lankan Rupees at the USD-LKR currency selling rate of HSBC on the date the transaction is posted to customer’s account.

Click here to access daily currency selling rate of HSBC.

A fee of 3.5% will be levied by the bank on debit card foreign currency transactions to mitigate the impact of exchange rate movements.

Please note that following the Gazette No. 2292/50 dated 12.08.2022, the mandatory requirement to receive service exports to Sri Lanka within 180 days remains unchanged. The above implies that the mandatory residual conversion requirement for Exporters of Services has been discontinued from 12 August 2022. Kindly note that all the service exporters are required to provide the necessary supporting documentation (i.e. Tax Identification Numbers (TIN), Invoice, etc.) for the remittances into their respective accounts, upon receiving the monthly SMS sent by the bank.

In line with the operating instructions Ref 33/04/012/0011/004 and subsequent circulars issued by the Central bank with an objective of encouraging more worker remittances, The Government of Sri Lanka has launched an incentive scheme which allows you to earn an additional LKR2/- for every dollar (USD) you earn through overseas employment when converting the foreign currency to Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR). This is applicable for all transactions from 28 December 2020.

Transactions which are eligible for the incentive.

• All local transactions converted to LKR from a Personal Foreign Currency Account (PFCA) with proceeds from overseas employment.
• All credits received favoring account holders of HSBC Sri Lanka being proceeds of Inward Worker Remittance from overseas employment to LKR accounts.
• Over the counter foreign exchange currency note transactions being proceeds of Inward Worker Remittances from overseas employment.
• All worker remittances or funds currently in PFCA accounts received via worker remittances (from overseas employment) at the point of conversion to LKR.

For this purpose a declaration must be submitted to the bank by the relevant individuals declaring their eligibility. Declaration can be accessed via the www.hsbc.lk/declarationform We kindly request you to complete the declaration form and the completed and duly signed form to be emailed to inwardremittanceformreply@hsbc.com.lk.

Special note: It is not mandatory for Sri Lankans working abroad to convert their remittances to LKR. Those who wish to convert the said earnings in to LKR would be eligible for the special incentive.

Further guidance could be found in the attached links.

The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka >

Amendment Update on 1 January 2021 >

Amendment Update on 27 January 2021 >

CBSL Operating instruction >

Special notes

Inward remittances received in foreign currency and converted to LKR are eligible for a reimbursement of overseas bank charges up to a maximum of two remittances when sending money to Sri Lanka. LKR 1000/- per transaction will be credited by the 15th Calendar day of the following month effective from March 2022.

Sri Lanka residents who have received an overseas remittance will receive a SMS from the bank on the 1st working day of the following month. Please confirm your eligibly by the 5th working day via SMS IWT< SPACE > YES to 4774. If not, SMS IWT <SPACE> NO 4774 or Please contact your Relationship Manager or Branch Manager.

Good news! There are no downtimes scheduled. Our systems are all up to date. Watch this space for future updates.