The government has presented new proposals seeking to remove excise duty on confectionaries and reduce excise duty on soft drinks.
The excise duty on soft drinks will be reduced from 13 percent (240 Shillings) per litre to 12 percent (200 Shillings) per litre.
According to State Minister for Planning David Bahati, the move is to encourage locally manufactured soft drinks. This is according to proposed tax cuts that were presented through a corrigendum to the Excise Duty Bill that was tabled before the Finance Committee on Tuesday.
The Bill carried a number of tax measures including a 13 percent excise duty on all juices including powders for reconstruction like Tang and dilute to taste drinks, 12 percent excise duty on all telecommunication services, including phone talk time on mobile phones, landlines, 200 Shillings excise duty on cooking oil per litre, 100 Shillings excise duty on diesel and petrol per litre among others.
Bahati also noted that his ministry is further proposing a reduction on the threshold of capital requirement for strategic investments.
Meanwhile, Finance Committee members have expressed mixed reactions on the exemption extended to confectionaries. Committee chairperson Henry Musasizi said that confectionery products are luxuries and not deserving of an exemption.
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