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Is caramel popcorn just like any other popcorn? No, argued India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council which determines the rates at which various products are taxed.

Earlier this month, the council announced that non-branded popcorn that was mixed with salt and spices would be taxed at 5% but caramel popcorn, which it categorised as a sugar confectionery, would attract an 18% tax.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that the presence of added sugar made caramel popcorn a “mithai” or confectionery, hence attracting tax under a different category than regular popcorn.

The decision had Indians up in arms, sparking a range of memes and criticism online.

“Our country’s tax system has truly evolved, popcorn is now the gold standard of luxury,” one user wrote on X.

Instagram influencer and celebrity popularly known as Orry commented that caramel popcorn was injurious to “financial health”.

Jairam Ramesh, a spokesman of main opposition Congress party, said the “absurdity of three different tax slabs for popcorn under GST… only brings to light a deeper issue: the growing complexity of a system that was supposed to be a Good and Simple Tax”.