Amendment sent to parliament to remove tax on bag packs: Ministry

Environment Ministry said on Wednesday that an amendment to the Waste Management Act has been sent to parliament to ensure that no tax is levied on bag packs. 

Under the Waste Management Bill, which was ratified in November, an MVR 2 per plastic bag tax came into effect on Tuesday. Plastic bag packs, which often comes in packs of 100 bags, are also taxed at the same rate of MVR 2 per bag. 

With this, the prices of bags sold at wholesale shops have increased manifold, raising concerns among the people.

The Environment Ministry issued a statement in this regard on Sunday evening.

According to the statement, the reason for such a steep rise in prices was because as per the existing law, people have to pay a fee of MVR 2 per bag in a bag pack, which usually contains 100 bags. MVR 200 is now added as tax to a 100-bag pack, it added. 

According to the statement, when the government sent the waste management bill to parliament, it was included that no tax would be levied on a bag pack containing 50 or more bags.

However, this clause was dropped when the parliament passed the bill, the ministry said, pointing out that taxation on bag bundles was also a change made by parliament.

Though the change was brought in by parliament, the government decided to ratify the bill as it was important for waste management services, the statement said.

The government's intention was that instead of sending the bill back to parliament, the amendments required to address other issues should be submitted separately, the ministry said.

"Therefore, the government has proposed an amendment to the Waste Management Act in March last year so that the previous issue can be resolved," the statement said.

"Once the amendment is passed by parliament, the current problem will be resolved."

The statement added: