Government Cuts Windfall Tax On Crude Petroleum

The government has slashed the windfall tax on crude petroleum on Wednesday. The special additional excise duty on crude petroleum has been cut from Rs 8,400 per tonne to Rs 5,700 per tonne, according to a gazette notification.

The new tax rates will take effect on May 16, it said. The taxes on diesel, petrol and aviation turbine fuel will continue to remain nil.

Every two weeks, the tax rates are reviewed based on the average oil prices from the previous two weeks.

India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1 last year, joining a growing number of nations that tax the supernormal profit of energy companies.