THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: While liquor and beer prices will go up marginally by up to Rs 10 in view of the restructuring of the taxes in the budget, Foreign Made Foreign Liquor (FMFL) and Foreign Made Wine (FMW) will reach the retail outlets in the state, likely by April. Finance minister Thomas Isaac announced during the Budget that various types of cess being collected along with liquor and beer price, like social security cess and medical cess, as well as surcharge are being done away with.
Instead, the sales tax has fee revised as 200 per cent for brands costing up to Rs 400 and 210 per cent for brands above Rs 400. For beer, the tax will be 100 per cent. Kerala State Beverage Corporation managing director H. Venkatesh said that the maximum hike in retail price of IMFL, wine and beer would be Rs 10. He said that the tax has been restructured mainly for accounting conveniences.
Meanwhile, industry sources said that there won't be much change in 70 per cent brands. Rate of medium or premium brands will go up to Rs 10, while some costly brands may go up by around Rs 20. The government also decided to allow Beverages Corporation, the sole distributor of liquor in the state, to sell FMFL and FMW. The government has not allowed sale of foreign beers. The finance minister said in the Budget speech that the decision was taken in view of widespread complaints of illegal sale of FMFL, causing revenue loss to the government. While the import duty will be 150 per cent, sales tax for FMFL will 78 per cent and that of FMW will be 25 per cent.
The basic price of FMFL will be fixed at Rs 6,000 per case and FMW will beRs 3,000 per case. There will be also a special price instead of excise duty. The rate are kept at a higher level to ensure that IMFL sales are not affected. Additional tax revenue of Rs 60 crore is expected from this measure, said Mr Isaac. Mr Venkatesh said that considering the tax structure, the minimum retail price of FMFL will be Rs 2,550. “We will be soon inviting tenders for supply and hope to commence supply by April.
