The 30 September 2026 deadline for final personal income tax payment (YA 2025-26) is under three weeks away. If you haven’t started, here is exactly what to do before the cut-off — and what happens if you miss it.
Who this applies to
You need to pay by 30 September if any of the following are true for the year 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026: your taxable income exceeded Rs 1.8 million, you earned business or freelance income, you received rental income, you had foreign-source income (now fully taxable), you drew salary from more than one employer, or you have a tax balance after APIT and WHT credits. If you are a pure single-employer PAYE worker fully covered by APIT tables, you do not have anything to pay on 30 September.
Your checklist before 30 September
- Pull your income records for the year — salary slips + APIT certificate, business P&L, rental receipts, foreign remittance statements, bank interest summaries.
- Pull your tax-credit records — APIT certificate from your employer, WHT certificates from banks and clients, PRNs of any quarterly instalments already paid.
- Compute the balance owed: total tax under the YA 2025-26 slabs, minus APIT, minus WHT, minus instalments paid = the balance due on 30 September. Use our tax calculators or ask your accountant.
- Check your TIN is active in the IRD e-Services portal. If it isn’t, register or reactivate before you try to pay.
- Generate a Payment Reference Number (PRN) from the IRD portal for the balance amount, tax type “Income Tax”, period YA 2025-26.
- Pay via OTPP (Online Tax Payment Platform) from any bank account through LankaPay CEFTS. Keep the payment confirmation.
- File your return by 30 November 2026 — the payment does not close out the year; the annual return is a separate obligation.
What happens if you miss it
Under Section 179(1) of the Inland Revenue Act, tax unpaid 14 days after the due date attracts a 20% penalty on the outstanding amount. On top of that, Section 159(1) charges 1.5% interest per month (or part-month) from the due date until settlement. A Rs 300,000 balance left unpaid for six months costs an extra Rs 87,000 in penalty and interest before you settle.
Common traps
- Forgetting foreign income. From 1 April 2025, foreign-source service income is fully taxable. If you earn from overseas clients or platforms, that income belongs on this return.
- Missing WHT credits. Bank interest WHT doubled to 10% this year. Collect the certificates — they reduce what you owe.
- Paying without a PRN or with the wrong tax period. Payments not tagged correctly do not close the liability.
For the full context on YA 2025-26 deadlines see our Sri Lanka personal tax deadlines guide, and for the step-by-step filing walkthrough see how to file personal income tax in Sri Lanka 2025-26. Unsure whether you owe anything or how much? Get in touch — we’ll review your position before the deadline.
Already an ERPA client? Upload your YA 2025-26 supporting documents securely at filemytax.erpa.lk →