Tax on liquor increased from today
The tax on liquor is increased with effect from today
(November 13) in accordance with the budget proposals tabled in Parliament by
the Finance Minister, the Excise Department announced.
Commissioner of Excise (Law Enforcement) Kapila
Kumarasinghe, made this announcement in a media briefing held today.
Accordingly,
• Tax on special arrack from Rs. 3,800 to Rs. 4,180
increased by Rs. 380
• Tax on molasses, palmyra arrack, coconut attack, and
seasoned arrack increased by Rs. 410
• Tax on locally-manufactured foreign liquor such as
whiskey, brandy, gin and rum increased from Rs. 4,150 to Rs. 4,570 by Rs. 420
The tax hike is based on the amount of pure alcohol per
liter of arrack, Mr. Kumarasinghe said adding that the intention of this move
is to discourage the consumption of liquor with a higher percentage of pure
alcohol.
In addition, the tax on imported wine has been increased up
to Rs. 3,300. For beer with less than 5% of alcohol, the tax is hiked by Rs.
100 while the tax on beer with more than 5% of alcohol moved up by Rs. 250.
Accordingly, the tax for a 750 ml bottle of special arrack
has risen by Rs. 96.14 while it was increased by Rs. 103.73 for other types of
arrack.
In the meantime, the tax was increased by Rs. 3.10 for beer
with less than 5% of alcohol per 625 ml and by Rs. 14.00 for beer with a higher
percentage of alcohol.
The tax on locally-manufactured foreign wine went up by Rs.
126.84 per 750 ml.
The excise commissioner noted that the taxes are required to
be paid on the quantity produced, although the liquor manufactured by these
companies is not sold.
Thereby, there may be a further increase in the liquor
prices when determining the retail price and the companies are legally
authorized to do so, he added.
Speaking further, Mr. Kumarasinghe said a program is formulated to recycle or reuse the 250 ml bottles of alcohol in a bid to prevent the damages to the environment caused by improper disposal by consumers.
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