Back-taxes will not be collected from the North and East and new offices would have to be opened up in the once war-torn regions and awareness created on taxation as economic activities pick up, the Commissioner General of the Department of Inland Revenue, Mahinda Medagoda said.

"We do not intend to collect back taxes from citizens and industries in the Northern and Eastern provinces because they have suffered enough due to the 30-year long conflict where they have been living in isolation," he said addressing the 10th AGM of the Association of Deputy Commissioners of the Department of Inland Revenue yesterday.

"With the end of the war, economic activity is bound to pick up and we have to be prepared to function in the North and East and revive our presence. We do not intend to collect back-taxes, nor will we ever do so. We would have a fresh start and begin by calling for voluntary payment of taxes," Medagoda said.

"We received a request from the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce to conduct a seminar on taxation because they are unaware of the tax laws of the country. So we need to create awareness on taxation in these regions. We also have to be friendly in our approach and facilitate their integration into normal economic activities of the country," he said.