The Kerala Finance Department said over 600 bar hotels are among the establishments in its list that defaulted on payment of taxes. Nearly 200 bar hotels also failed to file their tax returns on time. The information, tabled in reply to a question during the July Assembly session, disclosed that 606 bar hotels are not paying tax. In Kottayam, there are 90 bar hotels with licenses, 74 in Thrissur, and around 71 in Thiruvananthapuram. This figure is approximately 60-65 in other districts. Thiruvananthapuram (41) and Thrissur (25) together account for half of the 198 bar hotels that have defaulted on filing their returns.
The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) had sent a notice to bar hotels in Thiruvananthapuram city on November 10, informing them that liquor supply would be blocked for not paying turnover tax. In October 2023, a letter was written by the KSBC Chairman and Managing Director to the Additional Chief Secretary (Taxes) seeking clarification on the issue. The KSBC CMD said the authority had withheld supply to a few bars based on communication from the State GST department, where it was ordered not to distribute liquor. However, the official mentioned that halting sales to bars was "detrimental to KSBC revenue and thereby contribution to the State exchequer."
Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal informed the Assembly that action had been initiated in all districts to recover the arrears of excise duty due from bar hotels. He said measures to tighten revenue recovery had also been taken.
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