Jhapa. The online valuation software system has been implemented on a trial basis at the Mechi Customs Office at Kakarvitta, the eastern transit point.

Shivalal Neupane, chief tax officer at the Mechi Customs Office, said the system would make the customs system transparent and efficient as the real customs value of trade goods would be based on the transaction value instead of the reference price list.

The online valuation software system has been implemented as a test of eight customs points of the country including Mechi Customs. The system has been put into effect at the Mechi Customs Office and Bhadrapur Customs Office in Jhapa from the second week of December.

Neupane said that the system would reduce revenue leakage as legitimate trade would be encouraged. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been urging its member countries to implement an online valuation system.

Uttar Kumar Khatri, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, who inaugurated the system, said that the system would reduce various irregularities and informal transactions in the customs. Stating that the government has been encouraging good governance and taxpayer-friendly system in the customs system, he said the private sector should facilitate in the implementation of the customs system.

The Mechi Customs Office has set an annual target of collecting revenue of Rs 18.87 billion in the fiscal year 2082/83. Of this, Rs 6.82 billion has been collected in the first five months of the current fiscal year, according to the office.