The short-lived honeymoon of the connoisseurs of foreign liquor with their choicest brands at low prices is going to be over in the next few days. Delhi government's Excise Department has decided to bring in a new tax structure, hiking the rate of all brands of imported liquor from April 1.
The Central government had abolished additional customs duty on wines, spirits and liquor from abroad on July 4, last year. Following the decision, price of popular brands of imported liquor came down by 10 to 15 per cent in the Capital.
For instance, Johnny Walker Black Label that had a retail price of Rs 2,550 in the shelves earlier sells for Rs 2190 now. The price of Blue Label came down to Rs 11,170 from Rs 13,500.
"We would be charging an additional levy varying from 10 to 30 per cent on these brands from April onwards," said a senior official of the Excise Department. "We were losing revenue as the abolition of the additional customs duty was not passed on to the shelves," said the official.
Sources said the proposal to hike Excise duty has been cleared. "So far, the Excise Department was charging Rs 300 per bottle as vend fee or Rs 3,600 per case of 12 bottles of 750 ml liquor as the flat rate.
For imported wine, this was Rs 150 per bottle. "Now, if we charge 30 per cent flat on a bottle with a price of Rs 2,000, the new price would be something around Rs 2,600," said the official.
Government sources said imposition of taxes are opposed, but since imported liquor is considered a luxury item for the rich, there would be no opposition.
Source: Hindustan Times March-14-08
