Bihar to make up for liquor ban by taxing samosa, kachodi

Patna: The state government has decided to put samosa and kachoris under the bracket of luxury items in Bihar. The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting which was presided over by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Officials said the cabinet gave a nod to raise the VAT on at least 12 items.

The new VAT policy will be introduced soon after the notification is issued. Speaking on the issue Principal Secretary Cabinet Brajesh Mehrotra said “salty packed items like samosa, kachori and namkin are among those items on which additional VAT of 13.5 percent has been imposed”. He said packed non- cooked and instant eatable items have been brought under the tax purview. He said, “Earlier several of these items were excluded from taxes”.

Though the government has not clarified as to how much they expect to earn by hiking taxes on 12 items  but the decision according to sources was taken to minimize the pressure of losing more than Rs. 4000 crore in the wake of proposed liquor ban in the state from April 1. They said, sweets, dry fruits, fabric, sarees, sand ,cosmetics, electrical goods and auto parts are some of the important items on which masses will have to pay additional 13.5 per cent Value Added Taxes.

Besides imposing taxes on essential goods and eatables the state government has also decided to impose 13.5 percent tax on the purchase of sand, hitting those in the construction business. Government’s decision to impose tax on sand will hit the market badly. According to a Real Estate business owner in Patna, “this will affect builders badly and in the coming years the rates of construction will become more costly”. He said, “Currently rates in Patna or any other town in the state is much higher than the rates in NCR”.