Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology Lanka (Pvt) Ltd v. The Commissioner General of Inland Revenue – CA TAX/0004/2014-2022

In the case between Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology Lanka (Pvt) Ltd (Appellant) and The Commissioner General of Inland Revenue / Department of Inland Revenue (Respondent), the court addressed whether the Appellant qualified as an “Educational Establishment” under the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, thereby entitling it to a VAT exemption on the basis of providing vocational or practical training in information technology. The court held that the Appellant met the criteria for exemption as it had demonstrated the provision of practical training, and that registration under the Tertiary and Vocational Education Act was not a mandatory precondition for obtaining the VAT benefit. The principle was reaffirmed that statutes with special applications (here, the VAT Act) are to be appl