Gov’t to scrap 20% excise duty on locally produced fruit juice to boost agro-processing

The government has announced plans to abolish the 20 per cent excise duty on locally manufactured fruit juices as part of a broader package of tax reforms aimed at supporting agro-processing, creating jobs and strengthening domestic industry." To address the problem, the Minister said the Excise Duty Bill proposes a hybrid tax system that combines value-based and quantity-based taxation for wines and spirits to reduce undervaluation and misclassification.

Beyond the fruit juice tax relief, the Finance Minister said the government had identified significant weaknesses in the country's excise tax system, particularly in the taxation of wines and spirits.