Amidst of COVID-19, there is a piece of good news for all the Delhiites as the Delhi government has decided to withdraw the ‘special corona fee’ levied of 70% of the maximum retail price on all categories of liquor. The withdrawal will come into action from 10th June, reports claim.
The government, however, increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on all categories of liquor from 20 percent to 25 percent, the official said.
The fee was approved by Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal last month and a notification was later issued by the Delhi government’s finance department.
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Senior government officials had said that the lockdown since March 25 to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cost the Delhi government around Rs 645 crore in revenue from the sale of alcohol when calculated on the basis of revised estimates in the 2019-20 state budget.
The decision was taken to boost the government revenue but had resulted in a steep rise in the prices of retails liquor bottles.
Excluding the cess, on the second day, the sale was about Rs 4.4 crore, while on May 6 it was Rs 4.9 crore.
On May 8 and 9, the sale was for more than Rs 15 and 18 crores — highest per day sale in a day during the month, also excluding the cess.
Till May 30, the government sold liquor worth over Rs 234.54 crore, and the ‘Special corona fee’ can be counted as about Rs 160 crore additional income.
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