The tax on liquor was increased from yesterday, November 13 in accordance with the Budget proposals tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Commissioner of Excise, Law Enforcement, Kapila Kumarasinghe told a media briefing yesterday.
• Tax on special arrack has increased from Rs. 3,800 to Rs. 4,180, an increase of Rs. 380.
• Tax on molasses, palmyrah arrack, coconut arrack, and seasoned arrack by Rs. 410
• Tax on locally-manufactured foreign liquor such as whisky, brandy, gin and rum increased from Rs. 4,150 to Rs. 4,570, an increase of Rs. 420.
In addition, the tax on imported wine has been increased up to Rs. 3,300. For beer with less than five percent alcohol, there is an increase of Rs. 100 while tax on beer with over five percent of alcohol will go up by Rs. 250. The tax for a 750 ml bottle of special arrack has increased by Rs. 96.14 while there is an increase of Rs. 103.73 for other types of arrack.
The tax on locally-manufactured foreign wine was increased by Rs. 126.84 per 750 ml. The Excise Commissioner said that the taxes need to be paid on the quantity produced and not the amount sold.
Kumarasinghe said a program has been formulated to recycle or reuse the 250 ml alcohol bottles to minimise environmental damage due to improper disposal by consumers.