Sri Lanka income tax and other IRD taxes — personal income tax, APIT, VAT, or WHT — are paid online through the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) e-Services portal at www.ird.gov.lk using the government’s Gov-Pay gateway. This is the fast walkthrough: what you need before you start, the ten steps from login to receipt, and the three places people most often get stuck.
What you need before you log in
- A valid Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). If you don’t have one yet, register first at the IRD TPR office or online via the TPR_001_E form.
- Your IRD e-Services login — TIN, username, and password. First-time users are issued a PIN after TIN registration; use it to activate the account.
- A Sri Lanka-issued debit or credit card, or a bank account at a Gov-Pay-enabled bank (BOC, People’s Bank, Commercial Bank, HNB, Sampath, NTB, DFCC, Seylan, and most others). Foreign cards are not accepted.
- The exact amount payable for the Year of Assessment and tax type you’re settling. If you’re paying personal income tax, this is the figure from Schedule D of your filed return.
The ten-step walkthrough
- Go to www.ird.gov.lk and click e-Services in the top navigation. Choose Login.
- Enter your TIN, username, and password. Complete the CAPTCHA and sign in.
- From the left-hand menu, select Payments → Make Payment.
- Select the Tax Type — Individual Income Tax (IIT), APIT, VAT, WHT, or Corporate Income Tax, depending on what you’re paying.
- Select the Year of Assessment (e.g. YA 2025/26, which is the 2025-2026 tax assessment).
- Select the Payment Period (annual, quarterly instalment, or monthly) and the Payment Reason (self-assessment, instalment, penalty, interest).
- Enter the amount payable. The system generates a Payment Reference Number (PRN) — copy it or print the PRN voucher. You’ll need this if the payment stalls mid-transaction.
- Click Pay Now. The portal redirects you to the Gov-Pay gateway.
- On Gov-Pay, choose Card Payment or Internet Banking. Enter card details or sign in to your bank, authorise with OTP, and confirm.
- You’ll be redirected back to IRD with a payment confirmation. Download the PDF receipt immediately — and keep a copy in your tax folder.
The three places people get stuck
- PRN not generated, or lost mid-session. Don’t re-start from scratch. Go to Payments → My Payments, find the pending PRN, click Resume, and continue. Starting over creates a duplicate PRN that complicates reconciliation.
- Card declined on Gov-Pay. Nine times out of ten this is a transaction limit, not an IRD issue. Call your bank, raise your online transaction limit (often capped at Rs 100,000/day by default), and retry with the same PRN.
- Payment deducted but IRD shows “Pending”. Bank-to-IRD reconciliation can take 24–72 hours. Keep the Gov-Pay transaction reference and the bank SMS. If it hasn’t cleared after 72 hours, email e-services@ird.gov.lk with both references and the PRN — they can mark the payment settled manually.
What about the filing deadline?
Payment and filing are two separate deadlines, but for most personal income tax filers they fall on the same date — 30 November following the end of the Year of Assessment. For YA 2025/26, both the filing of the return and the final payment are due by 30 November 2026. Miss either and the IRD applies a 20% late-payment penalty plus 1.5% interest per month on the outstanding amount until paid. Paying the right number against the wrong tax type or year is almost as costly — the credit sits in the wrong ledger and the IRD still considers the correct one unpaid.
If you’d rather not spend an evening on the IRD portal — or if you’re filing close to the deadline and can’t afford a Gov-Pay misfire — our tax filing packages include step-by-step Gov-Pay guidance after we file your return. For last-minute returns, our 3-day Quick Filing option can file your YA 2025/26 return within three business days of receiving your documents.
Not sure how much you owe? Try our Sri Lanka Personal Income Tax Calculator → before you log in to Gov-Pay.