The Ministry of Finance has issued a statement today, reiterating that a new special commodity levy was NOT imposed on several food items through the Gazette Extraordinary issued on August 11.

Clarifying media reports, the finance ministry said the gazette notification only extended the validity period of the existing special commodity levy previously imposed on several food items including dried fish, sprats and salt.

The finance ministry explained that the gazette notification published on February 11, 2021, which extended the validity period of special commodity levy on imported sprats and dried fish by 06 months, was scheduled to expire on August 11. Accordingly, the new Gazette Extraordinary extended this validity period, with no tax revision, the statement read further.

Meanwhile, the gazette notifications related to special commodity levy on butter, mathe seeds, Kurakkan flour, mustard seeds and salt were scheduled to expire on September 30, 2021. Thereby, a similar extension was applied to these food items through the new communiqué, without imposing a new tax, the finance ministry added.