Excise duty on all varieties of liquor, wines, beer and cigarettes have been increased by 20 percent thus increasing the price of liquor and cigarettes, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya announced yesterday.
The tax increase on liquor is effective from midnight yesterday (3) and on cigarettes it is effective from January 1.
Accordingly, the tax on 750 ml of special arrack has been increased by Rs.206, on 750 ml of Molasses, Palmyrah, Coconut and Processed Arrack has been increased by Rs.224, on 750 ml of locally-manufactured foreign arrack by Rs.266, on 625 ml of beer (less than 5% volume) by Rs.21, on 625 ml of beer (more than 5% volume) by Rs.39, on 625 ml of wine by Rs.50 and on 625 ml of Saké by Rs.17 with effect from yesterday.
In addition, the price of a stick of a cigarette which was at Rs.85 and Rs.90 will be increased by Rs.15 each and the price of a stick of cigarette which was at Rs.60 and Rs.70 will be increased by Rs.10 each, it was reported. A tax of Rs.2 will also be imposed on a stick of locally manufactured Beedi, the Ministry said.
The Excise Department said that it expects a tax income of Rs.217 billion in 2023.
This will be the highest ever tax income the department would have earned in a year.
However, it was reported recently that the consumption of liquor in Sri Lanka has dropped by 40 per cent due to the increased price of the products.
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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