Foreign brands at Bevco from April 1

Thiruvananthapuram: Costly foreign brands like Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal and Glenfiddich will be available for the first time through Bevco outlets in the state from April 1, that too at prices for which these are now available in the grey and spurious market.  The arrival of foreign liquor brands through the official route from the next fiscal has been made possible with the passing of the Kerala Finance Bill, 2018, in the Assembly on Tuesday. Nearly ten major Acts - including Abkari, land, motor vehicle and sales tax related ones - were amended as part of the passing of the Finance Bill, 2018. Partition or gift deeds will become costlier, the basic land tax will go up, and electric vehicles will cost less.

The uniform stamp duty of Rs 1000 for all kinds of partitions, settlements and deeds introduced during K. M. Mani’s tenure as finance minister will be replaced with a variable stamp duty system. From the next fiscal, the stamp duty will be Rs 15 for every Rs 10,000 of the fair value of the land secured as part of partition, which is Rs 200 for a piece of land with a total fair value of Rs 1 lakh. This will also mean that the stamp duty on a piece of land with a fair value of up to Rs 6.5 lakh will be less than Rs 1000. For land stretches with a higher fair value will invite a stamp duty higher than Rs 1000. Dr Isaac justified the increase in stamp duty on the grounds that capital gains were the highest on land.

Nominal changes have been made in the basic land tax, too. Next fiscal, it will be Rs 2.02 per cent in panchayat areas, Rs 4.04 per cent in municipal areas, and '8.09  in corporation areas.  The acts that have been amended are: Kerala Abkari Act, Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act, Kerala Stamp Act, Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, Kerala Land Tax Act, Kerala General Sales Tax Act, Kerala MotorVehicles Taxation Act, Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act. Though the sales tax on liquor has gone up (from 138 percent to 200 percent in the case of an IMFL case of Rs 400), finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac said that prices of liquor brands would not go up.

“The increase will be deducted from the profits of Bevco,” Dr Isaac said in the Assembly on Tuesday and added: “The only hike in prices will be as a result of round-offs.” The deduction from profits refers to the warehouse margin of 22 percent that BEVCO has been asked not to charge. The margin instead of fattening Bevco’s coffers will be routed to the state exchequer. The finance minister also defended the government decision to impose a lower excise duty on foreign-made foreign liquor. “Already costly foreign brands were selling at lower prices in the grey and spurious market. Our objective was to divert the demand for such liquor brands from the grey market to the official Bevco outlets. It will only add to the state’s revenues,” Dr Isaac said.