In the name of protecting the market of Indian Made
Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the State, Kerala government has decided to
impose competitive tax on Foreign Made Foreign Liquor (FMFL). In the
Budget proposals for 2018-19 presented by the State Finance Minister, Dr
Thomas Issac has proposed competitive tax, special fee, etc., on FMFL.
He also proposed to vest the trade of FMFL with the State Beverages
Corporation to discourage illegal trade and loss of revenue to the
exchequer.
Besides the import duty of 150%, the budget has
proposed an additional tax of 78% on Foreign Liquor and 25% on Foreign
made Wine. The basic price of FMFL will be fixed at INR 6,000 per case
and for Foreign Made Wine will be fixed at INR 3,000 per case, so that
the sale of FMFL does not affect the market of IMFL. Further, a special
fee of INR 87.70 per proof litre will be levied according to the Abkari
Act, on FMFL. A special fee of INR 1.25 per bulk litre will be levied on
Foreign Made Wine, the Finance Minister said in his budget speech.
Meanwhile,
the Finance Minister also proposed to rationalised the tax rate on IMFL
sold in the State. The sales tax rates of IMFL having price up to INR
400 will be fixed at 200% and for price above INR 400 will be fixed at
210.94%. The tax rate of beer will be fixed at 100%. However, the
decision if implemented is not expected to impact the current rates, as
the Budget proposed to do away with many cess being levied on IMFL in
the state. |