Excise duty fails to achieve target with unsteady liquor sales
View(s):Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic third wave and the mobility restriction imposed to control the spread of the virus, the Excise Department’s revenue collection from fines and excise duty is feeling the pinch due to the closure of liquor bars and sales outlets, a senior official of the department said.
Excise duty on sale of liquor has come down as all wine stores and outlets have been kept closed for almost a month (in May-June) affecting cash inflows and missing the revenue target of the department this year, M. J. Gunasiri, Commissioner-General of Excise told the Business Times.
He said that before the countrywide spread of COVID-19, the department had earned an income of around Rs. 600-700 million on an average per day and now it has come down by half in the three days June 21 ,22 and 23 in which the liquor bars reopened for sales.
The total revenue recorded in those days was around Rs.1.11 billion, he disclosed adding that the revenue collection was Rs. 300 million on June 21, Rs. 370 million on June 22 and Rs. 440 million.
The Excise Department has earned revenue from taxes levied on manufactured liquor and the loss was more than Rs. 15 billion due to the halting of liquor production and sales for around one month, official provisional data showed.
The excise revenue target of Rs. 160 billion set for the Excise Department will fall short by around Rs. 80-90 billion this year if the present COVID-19 situation continued in the next six months without any change, a senior Treasury official said.
In nominal terms excise duty on liquor has increased to Rs.120.99 billion in 2020 from Rs.115.44 billion in 2019 but it will come down to around Rs.70 -80 billion this year, he predicted. (BS)