Goa latest state to hike excise duty on liquor
With the increase, announced through a government notification, excise duty on the cheapest quality on Indian Made Foreign Liquor has been hiked from Rs 25 to 30 per bulk litre, while that of the highest quality liquor has been hiked from Rs 2,000 to 2,400.
Goa on Tuesday became the latest state to hike excise duty on liquor amid the slowing down of the economy due to the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown.
With the increase, announced through a government notification, excise duty on the cheapest quality on Indian Made Foreign Liquor has been hiked from Rs 25 to 30 per bulk litre, while that of the highest quality liquor has been hiked from Rs 2,000 to 2,400.
Excise duty has gone up from Rs 22 to Rs 30 for the cheapest quality beer and from Rs 38 to 50 per bulk litre for the more expensive versions of beer.
Similarly, prices for the manufacture of milk punch, wines and other varieties of alcohol have also been hiked in varying degrees. The hiked rates will be effective from May 15.
The increase in excise duty on liquor was announced by chief minister Pramod Sawant during budget earlier this year. But it wasn’t formally notified owing to pressure from the retailers and liquor traders who had, back then, said that the hike would mean liquor rates in Goa would be on par with other states which would,in turn,affect the tourism sector in the state.
Liquor retailers and traders had at that time petitioned chief minister for a rollback of excise hike who then announced that the hike would be reconsidered. The Covid-19 crisis, however, forced the state government’s hand forcing it to raise the excise duty on liquor.
There are over 10,000 liquor retailers in Goa and the liquor industry contributes over Rs 400 crore a year to the state exchequer in form of taxes, according to IANS.
After stand alone liquor shops were recently allowed to open from May 3 by the Centre, many states including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal decided to raise taxes on liquor to mop up revenue to fight Covid-19.
