KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Finance Nepal has initiated the process for preparing the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, forming a Revenue Advisory Committee in line with the approved timeline and work schedule.
Ministry spokesperson Tank Prasad Pandey said the committee has been constituted to provide recommendations to the government on key economic issues and matters to be incorporated in the next budget.
The committee was formed by a decision of Finance Minister Rameshore Prasad Khanal on February 11, under the coordination of the Revenue Secretary at the ministry. The committee has already begun its work.
According to the ministry, the committee will suggest policy and legal reforms related to income tax, value-added tax (VAT), excise duty, education service fee, digital service tax, e-commerce taxation, and other internal taxes imposed under the Financial Act.
It will also provide recommendations on reviewing tax and non-tax rates, simplifying procedures, reforming the tax system, and improving overall revenue administration and organizational structure.
The panel’s mandate includes advising on policy and legal reforms, procedural simplification, and tax and non-tax incentives to promote industrial development, trade, import-export, foreign trade, service trade, supply management, and investment promotion.
The committee will also review customs duties, assess whether tariff protection is needed for domestic production, and suggest improvements in valuation systems, trade facilitation, customs laws, administrative structures, and border management.
In addition, it will recommend legal and organizational reforms to curb revenue leakage, strengthen asset laundering investigations, regulate foreign exchange, and control economic crimes.
The committee is also tasked with advising on reforms in agriculture and commercialization, energy and electricity, tourism promotion and civil aviation, and the conservation and management of natural resources.
Its scope further covers banking and financial institutions, insurance, capital markets, cooperatives, economic policy, and real estate transactions, identifying existing problems and proposing solutions.
The ministry said the committee will identify areas of non-tax revenue collection by various government agencies, recommend rate determination and review, and suggest reforms in revenue sharing mechanisms among federal, provincial, and local governments. It will also address issues of duplication and coordination within the intergovernmental tax system.
The first meeting of the committee has decided to invite suggestions from relevant government agencies, private sector umbrella organizations, academia, stakeholders, and the general public.
Sub-committees formed under the Revenue Advisory Committee have been given a deadline until the end of Chaitra to submit their recommendations. The main committee is required to submit its report with recommendations to the finance minister by the end of May.
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