Kathmandu. The Ministry of Finance and the Inland Revenue Department have not kept records of the exemption of Rs 85.23 billion. The 63rd annual report of the Auditor General does not have such records.

The Ministry and the Department of Inland Revenue have not kept a record of the exemption given to the Inland Revenue from the Finance Act. Clause 18 of the Finance Act, 2081 BS states that the government can decrease, increase or decrease the rate of fees, fees and taxes levied in accordance with the prevailing laws.

According to the statistics of the Statistics System of the Department of Customs (ASICUDA), 85.23 billion has been exempted from customs revenue as per the provision of complete or partial exemption of import duty in Schedule 4, 5 and 6 of the Customs Duty Act, 2081. Such discount was Rs. 79.87 billion in the previous year. The Ministry and the Department of Inland Revenue have not kept a record of the exemption given to the Inland Revenue from the Finance Act.

According to the details received from the Ministry of Finance, customs duty has been waived by Rs 5.71 billion on the import of goods under the SAFTA facility. According to Section 18 (1) of the Finance Act, 2081, the Government of Nepal has exempted the Customs Tariff Act, 2081 and Excise Duty Act by amending the Customs Duty Act, 2081 and the Excise Act.

In this way, the decision to exempt tax by using the provisions of the Finance Act has been presented only through the progress of the ministry and not in a lump sum in the Parliament. Similarly, Section 18 (2) of the same Act provides a duty exemption of Rs 6.12 billion to various projects, contractors and government bodies this year as per the terms and conditions of the agreement of the government bodies, committees and boards and 18 (3) of the foreign aided projects.

According to the Auditor General, although there is no mention of tax exemption while preparing the cost estimate of public construction, it seems that the contractors are taking the direct financial benefit of the exemption through the master list after the purchase agreement is signed and the practice of adjusting such amount in the cost is less.

The Customs Duty Act, 2081 and the Value Added Tax Act, 2052 BS have a provision to waive duty and tax on the recommendation of various agencies of the Government of Nepal.