Paid by foreign clients, local companies, or both? This calculator works out your 2025/26 income tax, applies the 15% cap on foreign-currency income remitted through a Sri Lankan bank, and credits the 5% your local clients already withheld. It also covers what you can deduct and when your quarterly instalments are due.
Free tool for freelancers and consultants
Sri Lanka Freelancer Tax Calculator
Paid by foreign clients, local companies, or both? Enter what you earned this year and see your income tax for 2025/26, how much the 15% foreign-currency ceiling saves you, what the 5% your clients already kept is worth, and whether you pay quarterly or once.
Where does your money come from?
Tap everything that applies to you — most people have more than one. Or
💼 Your salary
Your employer cuts tax from this every month (APIT). We check whether what they cut was enough.
Worked only part of the year — joined, resigned, or switched to your own work? Put the months here. Blank = all 12.
It’s on your payslip as “APIT” or “PAYE”. Blank = we estimate it from the official tax table.
💱 Money from foreign clients
If it arrived in foreign currency into your Sri Lankan bank, the law caps tax on it at 15%.
Rough is fine: monthly amount × 12, converted. USD 1,000 a month ≈ Rs. 3,600,000 a year.
🧾 Working for yourself
You’re taxed on profit — your earnings minus business costs. Company clients may have kept 5% back already.
Fees and sales for the year, minus what you spent to earn them — rent, helpers, materials, fuel.
🏠 Rent you collect
You’re taxed on rent after costs — choose how to handle repairs below.
Repairs and upkeep costs?
The law allows one or the other, not both. Pick whichever is bigger for you.
🏦 FD & savings interest
Interest counts as income. The bank already keeps 10% — but that’s an advance, not the final tax.
Not sure? Money in FDs × interest rate. Rs. 5,000,000 at 10% = Rs. 500,000 a year.
Bank usually keeps 10% = —
Your result
Rs. —
Tap your income types to begin.
- All your income for the year—
- Tax-free allowance (everyone gets this)—
- The part that gets taxed—
- Tax for the whole year—
- Already paid for you (cut at source)—
Where it comes from
What you should do
Once you enter your amounts, we’ll tell you whether you need quarterly payments or just one yearly form.
Estimates for a person living in Sri Lanka, using this tax year’s official rules (Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017 as amended in 2025). This is guidance, not tax advice — please confirm with a Chartered Accountant or tax practitioner before paying or filing.
Want the whole return built from your invoices and remittances, not just the estimate? LankanTax Desktop does it on your own computer.
See LankanTax DesktopIn short
A freelancer in Sri Lanka pays income tax on profit (fees minus business costs) at 6% to 36% after the Rs 1.8 million personal relief. Fees paid in foreign currency into a Sri Lankan bank are taxed at no more than 15%. Companies that pay you over Rs 100,000 a month keep 5% as withholding tax, which counts toward your bill. If tax is still owed after those credits you pay it in four instalments and file one return by 30 November.
Which calculator do you need?
Rates at a glance for freelancers
| Item | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal relief | Rs 1,800,000/year | Comes off total income before bands apply |
| Income tax bands (after relief) | 6% / 18% / 24% / 30% / 36% | Rs 1,000,000 then three Rs 500,000 slabs then balance |
| Foreign-currency income, remitted through a Sri Lankan bank | 15% cap | Since 1 April 2025, applies to profit not turnover |
| Withholding on local service fees above Rs 100,000/month | 5% | Credited against your final bill |
| Withholding on bank interest | 10% | Credited against your final bill |
How this freelancer tax calculator works
The calculator opens with the two income types most freelancers have: money from foreign clients and money from local work. Tap the other buttons if you also have a salary, rent or bank interest, because everything is taxed together. It then applies the Y/A 2025/26 rules: the Rs 1.8 million personal relief, the 6% to 36% bands, the 15% ceiling on remitted foreign-currency income, and every credit already paid on your behalf. The result link at the bottom carries only the numbers you typed, so you can send it to your accountant or save it for filing season.
The 15% rule for foreign-currency income
Since 1 April 2025, service income earned from clients outside Sri Lanka, received in foreign currency and remitted through a Sri Lankan bank, is taxed at a maximum of 15% instead of the normal bands that run to 36%. Payments that reach you outside banking channels, or are converted abroad before landing, get no ceiling. The calculator follows the IRD’s worked example: your relief is absorbed by normal-rate income first, then the foreign slice is taxed at the lower of 15% and what the bands would have charged.
Read the foreign income tax guide for the detail and the documents to keep.
The 5% your clients keep is not lost
A Sri Lankan company paying an individual more than Rs 100,000 in a month for services must deduct 5% withholding tax and pay it to the IRD under your TIN. Enter the total on the self-employed card as tax already kept and the calculator subtracts it from what you owe. Ask each client for the withholding certificate; from 2026 they must give it free of charge.
What you can deduct before tax
Only profit is taxed. Costs incurred to earn the fees come off first: software subscriptions, a share of home internet and electricity, equipment through capital allowances at 20% a year, co-working rent, professional fees, business travel. Personal costs and the EPF-style savings you make for yourself do not. The freelancer deductions list goes item by item, and the advanced calculator lets you enter each one.
Deductible: internet, phone and transport used for your work, apportioned to business use (no fixed IRD formula, keep a reasonable percentage and records). Equipment like a laptop is a capital asset: claim 20% of its cost each year for 5 years, not the full amount at once. Purely private spending is never deductible, and employees on a salary cannot claim these deductions against their PAYE.
When your quarterly instalments are due
If you owe tax after your withholding credits, pay it in four instalments: 15 August, 15 November, 15 February and 15 May, with your final return due 30 November. Re-estimate each quarter if your income changes; the other calculators link back here for this.
Three freelancers, three results
| Situation | Income | Tax for the year | How to pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote developer, one US client, paid to a Sri Lankan bank | USD 1,000 a month, about Rs 3,600,000 a year | Rs 222,000 | Four instalments of about Rs 55,500, return by 30 November |
| Consultant with local company clients only | Rs 4,800,000 fees, Rs 800,000 costs, Rs 240,000 kept as 5% WHT | Rs 330,000 less Rs 240,000 credit = Rs 90,000 | Four instalments of Rs 22,500, return by 30 November |
| Designer with a salary and side clients abroad | Salary Rs 200,000 a month (APIT deducted) plus Rs 1,200,000 remitted foreign fees | Rs 216,000 less Rs 36,000 APIT = Rs 180,000 | Four instalments of Rs 45,000, return by 30 November |
Figures produced by this calculator under the current reading of the 15% rule. Enter your own numbers above; the result link reproduces them exactly.
Registering, paying and filing
- Register for a TIN if you do not have one; freelancers use their personal TIN.
- Pay the balance the calculator shows in four instalments: 15 August, 15 November, 15 February and 15 May. Pay any remainder by 30 September after the year ends.
- File the return by 30 November, entering foreign income, local income after costs, and every APIT and WHT credit.
- If your turnover passes Rs 36 million (from 1 July 2026), check SSCL; above Rs 60 million, VAT. Exported services are zero-rated for VAT.
Freelancer tax questions
What freelancers ask about tax in Sri Lanka.
How much tax does a freelancer pay in Sri Lanka?
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Income tax on profit at 6% to 36% after the Rs 1.8 million personal relief, with foreign-currency income remitted through a Sri Lankan bank capped at 15%. A freelancer with Rs 3.6 million of income pays about Rs 222,000 either way; the 15% ceiling starts saving money once remitted foreign income passes roughly Rs 4 million a year, because below that the ordinary bands are already lower.
Do I pay tax on money from Upwork, Fiverr or a foreign employer?
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Yes. It is service income. If it reaches your Sri Lankan bank in foreign currency the tax is capped at 15%. If you keep it abroad or receive it in rupees through informal channels, the normal bands apply.
Is the 5% my client deducted my final tax?
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No. It is withholding tax, an advance. Your fees are taxed at the normal rates on profit, and the 5% is credited against that bill. Some freelancers owe more, some are due a refund.
Do freelancers need to register for VAT?
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Only when taxable supplies exceed Rs 60 million a year. Services supplied to clients outside Sri Lanka and paid in foreign currency are zero-rated, so most exporting freelancers charge no VAT even if registered. SSCL applies above Rs 36 million of turnover, from 1 July 2026.
Can I deduct my phone, internet or laptop as a freelancer?
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Phone, internet and transport used for work are deductible on a reasonable business-use basis. A laptop is a capital asset: claim 20% of its cost a year for 5 years, not all at once.
When do freelancers pay quarterly instalments?
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If tax is still owing after your withholding credits, pay on 15 August, 15 November, 15 February and 15 May, with your annual return due 30 November.