Skift Take
The Indian government has introduced a layer of complexity and confusion for travel companies in the country.
In the past five months in India, there have been four announcements from the government regarding taxes for international tour packages — each completely different, none clearly stated.
It's wreaking havoc on India's travel industry as the country is emerging as a major source of outbound travel.
Consider:
February 2023: The Indian government announces that on July 1 it would be raising the tax collected for international tour packages bought from an Indian tour operator to 20% from the earlier 5%.
That means if an Indian traveler books a foreign tour package to Italy for Rs 200,000 ($2,500) through an Indian travel agent or an online travel agency in the country, there would be a tax of Rs 40,000 ($500).
May 2023: The finance ministry announces that if one chooses to pay for a tour package offered by international websites using an international debit or credit ca