Government Hikes Windfall Tax On Crude Petroleum

The central government hiked the windfall tax on crude petroleum on Monday. The special additional excise duty on crude petroleum has been hiked from Rs 6,000 per tonne to Rs 7,000 per tonne, according to a gazette notification. The government had last hiked the windfall tax on April 30.

The new tax rates will take effect on July 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 profits of energy companies.