DUSHANBE, November 14, 2013, Asia-Plus — The government’s intention to raise the rates on excise tax on duty-free Russian oil products should be well-grounded, the member of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, Ismoil Talbakov, told Asia-Plus Thursday afternoon.
According to him, the government cannot make such a step without parliament’s endorsement.
“The parliament has not yet received such a proposal for consideration,” noted Talbakov. “If we receive such a proposal we will definitely ask the government what for these additional funds will be used. If they are used to support vulnerable people, pensioners, and social sector we will approve this proposal.”
We will recall that in a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddinov noted on January 25, 2013 that the Ministry of Finance will offer the Government to raise the rates on excise taxes on oil products, alcohol drinks and tobacco goods.
Najmiddinov said they offered to raise the rate of excise tax on oil products from 40 to 90 euros per one ton. “Compared to other countries excise taxes in Tajikistan are very low and they account for only 2 percent of the revenue part of the national budget,” said the minister. “We have decided to raise the issue of increasing the rate of excise tax on the oil products after the signing of an agreement between Tajikistan and Russian on duty-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan.” He added that the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the State Committee for Investments and State-owned Property Management had supported that offer.
Meanwhile, Hamdam Taghoymurodov, the head of the Antimonopoly Agency under the Government of Tajikistan, told journalists on January 24, 2013 that there ought not to expect gasoline prices to fall sharply after signing of a government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and Russia on duty-free delivery of Russian oil products to Tajikistan. According to him, other reasons not allowing cutting fuel prices may occur by that time. One of such reasons is transit tariffs imposed by Uzbekistan on fuel deliveries through its territory, Taghoymurodov noted.
