Junior minister against passport seizure of bank defaulters
As a proposal of seizing passports of bank defaulters awaits Cabinet approval, Assistant Finance Minister Dr Roop Jyoti said that enforcing such an action was difficult and practically impossible.
Speaking at an interaction in the capital on Monday, Assistant Minister Dr Jyoti said, "The action of seizing the passport of bank defaulters is practically not possible since numerous ventures, which had defaulted bank loans, have investments as well as active management participation from donors, according to reports."
Seizing the passport of willful defaulters was one among the strong actions recommended by a high-level task force and concerned professionals have been strongly urging for its enforcement.
Dr Jyoti also noted that evasion of taxes was at its height in electronics and textiles trade and asked the businessmen to comply with the domestic tax norms.
He even urged the business community to comply with the new financial ordinance and take advantage of amnesty pledged on voluntary disclosure of stocks which so far are unregistered for the VAT purposes.
"Tax Plate and voluntary disclosure of stocks are among a few initiatives of the government to inculcate sincerity among taxpayers through announcement of appropriate mechanism," he added.
“The government is committed to making the tax system predictable, result-oriented, transparent and practical,” he said, adding that the main emphasis has been given for effective implementation of VAT. “If VAT is effectively implemented, we can raise as much as Rs 48 billion in revenue from the current level of Rs 24 billion annually.”
Representatives from the private sector, on the other hand, charged that the government's revenue policy was not export friendly. According to them, it has failed to simplify duty drawback processes and procedures to get back bank guarantee.
Chandi Raj Dhakal, president of FNCCI asked the government to come up with more effective measures in the next ordinance to stir the market and help business to grow.
He asked the government to immediately enforce program on making Revenue Advisory Committee a permanent Revenue Board, among others.
Diwakar Golchha, first vice-president of FNCCI, asked that customs valuations to be made scientific and practical in order to boost fair trade.
He also requested the government to activate district level revenue coordination committee to facilitate resolving the tax related problems at the local level. nepalnews.com pb Nov 15 05
