Finance Minister Pun hints at change in tax rates in new budget

KATHMANDU, MARCH 18: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has said a thorough analysis will be done on the needs and relevance of tax rates in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year. During a meeting with the journalists at the Ministry of Finance yesterday, Minister Pun said the reasons would be clearly mentioned if the tax rates were reviewed adding that no question will be raised on the intention behind the decision on change in tax rates.

“Transparency will be maintained while determining the tax rates,” Minister Pun said. He viewed that public participation should be ensured in budget making and determining the tax system as well. On the occasion, the Finance Minister also emphasized the need for an objective analysis of the relevance of tax exemption given by the government to different sectors.

Minister Pun also argued that a debate was needed on whether or not a multi-rate was needed on value-added tax (VAT). Likewise, he said the Ministry has decided to supply some amount of money in the market to ensure a vibrant economy adding that the entire market was slow due to shrink in internal demand and consumption lately. Minister Pun said that he was studying ways to help resolve this problem.