mo4ch:>A new trend in the Middle East? Oman taxes energy drinks as oil income falls | Mo4ch News

In a bid to reduce its reliance on crude oil revenues, the sultanate of Oman’s Secretariat General of Taxation has announced a slew of new taxes on products ranging from tobacco and alcohol to port and energy drinks.Beginning June 15th, pork meat, tobacco, and alcohol as well as energy drinks will be subject to a 100-percent tax, with carbonated drinks subject to a 50-percent levy. Last November, a senior Oman government official said the taxes could generate around US$260 million in annual revenues.Also on rt.com‘Act of economic terrorism’: Iran says US sanctions prove call for talks was ‘deceitful & untrue’Oman is not a member of OPEC but it is not a minor producer: the average daily rate for April was more than 970,000 barrels of crude and condensate. Its exports go to Asia, with China soaking in almost 84 percent of the total and the rest divided between India and Japan.Yet like other Persian Gulf producers, the sultanate has suffered its fair share of the 2014 price crisis fa…