# How many days make you tax resident in Sri Lanka? > How Sri Lanka decides tax residency: 183 days 183 days or more in aggregate in ANY twelve-month period that commences or ends during the year of assessment, the tax year (1 April – 31 March), the tests that catch you regardless of days, and Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Sri Lanka's own page — checked 2026-08-18. Source: https://doastretch.com/tax-days/sri-lanka/ Sri Lanka · tax residency · 2026 183 days Tax residency threshold checked 2026-08-18 · ird.gov.lk 183 days 183 days or more in aggregate in ANY twelve-month period that commences or ends during the year of assessment makes you tax resident in Sri Lanka — but the day count is only the test people know about. Next step **How we know** Figures are as Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Sri Lanka publishes them at ird.gov.lk, checked 18 August 2026. Sources are listed further down the page. ## How the counting works SRI LANKA NOW TAXES FOREIGN-SOURCE INCOME. Until 31 March 2025 the Sixth Schedule exempted foreign-currency service-export income and, more broadly, any foreign-source income remitted through a bank. Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025 section 4 cut both off with effect from 1 April 2025 — they now read "remitted through a bank to Sri Lanka on or after January 1, 2020, but prior to April 1, 2025". The replacement is the 15% maximum rate in First Schedule paragraph 1(6). Anyone relying on the old blanket exemption is out of date. Worldwide charge, section 4: tax is on "(a) in the case of a resident person, the person's income from employment, business, investment or other source for that year, wherever the source arises; and (b) in the case of a non-resident person ... to the extent that the income arises in or is derived from a source in Sri Lanka." Section 20(1) defines the year of assessment as the twelve months commencing 1 April and ending 31 March of the immediately succeeding year. SOURCE NOTE: the IRD's published consolidation covers changes to 2025 only, so the 2026 amendments (Act No. 11 of 2026, certified 3 June 2026) were read from the amending Act itself; no consolidated text folding them in had been published at the date of this check. ## Why the day count is the part you can control Ties, homes and intentions are argued after the fact; days are a record. That is why the first thing an adviser asks for is a list of the days you were in the country — and why reconstructing it from boarding passes and photos a year later is a bad afternoon. Log each stay as it happens and the tally is simply there, with the dates that produced it. If you are moving to Sri Lanka to work remotely, the [Sri Lanka digital nomad visa page](https://doastretch.com/nomad-visa/sri-lanka/) covers the permission side. ## Sources - [ird.gov.lk](https://www.ird.gov.lk/en/publications/Acts_Income%20Tax_2017/IRA_Cons_Act_-_2025_Changes.pdf) — official source, checked 2026-08-18 - [ird.gov.lk](https://www.ird.gov.lk/en/publications/Acts_Income%20Tax_2017/IR_Act_No_11-2026_E.pdf) (official), retrieved 2026-08-18 - [ird.gov.lk](https://www.ird.gov.lk/en/publications/sitepages/Acts.aspx?menuid=1601) (official), retrieved 2026-08-18 - [ird.gov.lk](https://www.ird.gov.lk/en/Downloads/IT_Individuals_Doc/Guide_to_IIT_2425_E.pdf) (official), retrieved 2026-08-18 ## Questions people ask about Sri Lanka tax residency **How many days can you spend in Sri Lanka before becoming tax resident?** 183 days 183 days or more in aggregate in ANY twelve-month period that commences or ends during the year of assessment makes you tax resident in Sri Lanka, and residents are taxed on worldwide income. Days are not the only route in: Section 69(1), Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017: an individual is resident for a year of assessment if the individual "(a) resides in Sri Lanka; (b) is present in Sri Lanka during the year and that presence falls within a period or periods amounting in aggregate to one hundred and eighty three days or more in any twelve month period that commences or ends during the year; (c) is an employee or an official of the Government of Sri Lanka and his spouse is posted abroad during the year; or (d) is an individual who is employed on a Sri Lanka ship, within the meaning of the Merchant Shipping Act, during the period the individual is so employed." A non-Sri-Lankan caught by limb (d) is taxed as a resident only on the shipboard employment income. SPLIT-YEAR, section 70(1): an individual resident only by reason of limb (b) "shall be so resident from the start of the one hundred and eighty three day period"; otherwise a person resident during a year of assessment is treated as resident for the whole year. NEW EXCLUSIONS from Amendment Act No. 11 of 2026, deemed effective 1 April 2025: section 69(1A) provides that an individual is NOT resident if they hold an INVESTOR CATEGORY RESIDENCE VISA issued by the Controller of Immigration and Emigration; section 69(2A) provides that an individual who leaves Sri Lanka under an employment contract of not less than one year, with an employer unassociated with their immediate Sri Lankan employer, is not resident from the first day of the year of assessment of departure until the contract expires. Checked 18 August 2026 against ird.gov.lk. **When is Sri Lanka's tax year?** 1 April – 31 March. Day counts are measured against that year unless the rule names a different period — here, 183 days or more in aggregate in ANY twelve-month period that commences or ends during the year of assessment. **Are residents of Sri Lanka taxed on worldwide income?** Yes — once you are tax resident in Sri Lanka, worldwide income falls in scope, subject to double-tax treaties. Foreign-currency earnings remitted through a bank are capped at 15%. First Schedule paragraph 1(6), inserted by Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025: with effect from 1 April 2025 an individual's gains and profits are taxed at a maximum rate of 15% where they are "(a) the gains and profits earned or derived from any service rendered in or outside Sri Lanka to any person to be utilized outside Sri Lanka, where the payment for such services is received in foreign currency and remitted through a bank to Sri Lanka; (b) the gains and profits earned or derived from any foreign source where such gains and profits are earned or derived in foreign currency and remitted through a bank to Sri Lanka". This is the operative rule for resident freelancers and remote workers billing overseas clients. **Is there a special tax regime for people moving to Sri Lanka?** Foreign-currency earnings remitted through a bank are capped at 15%. First Schedule paragraph 1(6), inserted by Amendment Act No. 2 of 2025: with effect from 1 April 2025 an individual's gains and profits are taxed at a maximum rate of 15% where they are "(a) the gains and profits earned or derived from any service rendered in or outside Sri Lanka to any person to be utilized outside Sri Lanka, where the payment for such services is received in foreign currency and remitted through a bank to Sri Lanka; (b) the gains and profits earned or derived from any foreign source where such gains and profits are earned or derived in foreign currency and remitted through a bank to Sri Lanka". This is the operative rule for resident freelancers and remote workers billing overseas clients. Conditions and time limits apply; the official page below is the place to check them. **How does Stretch count tax days for Sri Lanka?** Every stay you log feeds the tally: Stretch counts the days you were present against the 183-day threshold in the right window, so "how long was I actually there?" is answered before your accountant asks. Tax-day tallies are part of Stretch+; the day counter and the alerts are free forever. Tax days elsewhere - [United States](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/united-states/) 183d - [Canada](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/canada/) 183d - [Mexico](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/mexico/) tests - [Brazil](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/brazil/) 183d - [Costa Rica](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/costa-rica/) 183d - [Panama](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/panama/) 183d - [Guatemala](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/guatemala/) 183d - [Dominican Republic](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/dominican-republic/) 182d - [All countries →](https://doastretch.com/tax-days/) Sri Lanka, the rest of it - [Sri Lanka's digital nomad visa](https://doastretch.com/nomad-visa/sri-lanka/) - [Who needs a visa for Sri Lanka](https://doastretch.com/visa/to/sri-lanka/) - [All visa rules by passport →](https://doastretch.com/visa/) Stretch is a tracker, not legal advice, and this is not tax advice. Visa and tax rules change and are applied by the authority, not by an app — every figure here shows its source and the date we checked it. Checked 2026-08-18; confirm on the official page before you apply or file.