Muscat: The Majlis A' Shura and the State Council on Tuesday approved the draft law for selective goods tax at a joint session, which was called on the orders of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
During discussions, the two councils studied the draft, which was referred by the Council of Ministers. The two councils agreed on articles 38 and 18 with some amendments, while articles 22, 49, 57 met with some differences between the members. Two new articles were proposed by the Council of State.
The members stressed on the importance of a consensus in view of the public interest by imposing a tax on goods that are harmful to the human health and also environment.
On Monday, Saleh bin Saeed Masan, chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee, said there were five articles on which there is a disagreement and the members have made their comments in the draft law.
The Ministerial Decision No 64/2018 issued to impose local taxes/ charges on goods and services was published in the official gazette in April this year.
As per the details, taxes of varying rates, to be borne by consumers, will be imposed on goods that are harmful to public health and environment. It also includes luxury items.
A senior official at the Ministry of Finance told the Observer that there is an agreement among the GCC countries to impose taxes on alcohol, tobacco, carbohydrates and energy drinks.
On luxury goods, he said a decision has to be made on what kinds of goods are luxury, whether it is based on the pricing or the types of engines in the case of vehicles.
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