‘State treasury could get Rs 300 billion more in revenue if tax systems were reformed’

Kathmandu: The High-Level Recommendation Committee on Tax System Reforms formed by the government has stated that the country could get Rs 300 billion more provided that the tax systems were revised.

The Committee has suggested that the provision to write off value-added tax given in some goods should be scrapped, the existing cap of the income tax should be amended, excise duty should be waived off except in the goods that cause harm to human health, green tax should be imposed, social security tax should be revised and the amount of the digital payment should be increased while discouraging cash payment.

The government had formed the four-member committee under the chair of Bidhyadhar Mallik some nine months ago.

The Mallik Committee had submitted its report three months ago. The Committee has proposed the establishment of an Implementation Facilitation and Monitoring Unit under the command of the Revenue Secretary for effective implementation of the recommendations on tax system reforms.

If the reform measures stated in the report of the Committee were implemented, the country could get Rs 291 billion more in revenue, the report made public by the Ministry of Finance states. Laxman Aryal, Prof Dr Ram Prasad Gyawali and Shyam Prasad Dahal were the members in the Committee.

Chairman of the Committee Mallik said that the possibility of the revenue collection was projected based on extensive study and sectoral calculations. “This is a tough job but not impossible,” Mallik argued.

The upcoming fiscal year’s budget has also included the idea of implementing the Committee’s recommendations. Chairman Mallik shared that he was hopeful of the implementation of the report’s recommendations.”The results will be positive if the recommendations were implemented in three to five years,” he reasoned.

Likewise, Aryal, who is also the former secretary with extensive expertise in tax system and revenue administration, said the projection of getting Rs 300 billion more is for the present day context adding that it will be higher than the given estimation in the future. “The report has clearly stated how and from where it is possible,” according to Aryal.

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