HoR passes financial bill, two bills related to budget

KATHMANDU: The meeting of the House of Representatives on Monday passed the 'Bill designed to raise national debt, 2079' and the 'Debt and Guarantee (Twenty-fifth Amendment) Bill, 2079' by a majority. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had tabled the bills for consideration in the Lower House of parliament. Earlier, Chair of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of HoR, Krishna Bhakta Pokhrel presented the annual report of the Committee, 2079 BS. Likewise, ‘Financial Bill, 2079’ proposed by the Finance Minister for approval of the house was also passed with majority. Prior to this, the lawmakers had focused reforms on the existing tax system adding that there are additional burdens on taxpayers as the ambit of tax remains unchanged. Taking part in the deliberations, lawmakers argued that income tax in Nepal was higher compared to neighbouring countries India and Pakistan. They also drew the government’s attention to higher tax on the import of electric vehicles (EVs), terming it a contradictory move at a time when discussions were on to increase power consumption. Lawmakers Bharat Shah, Metmani Chaudhary, Prakash Snehi, Dibya Mani Rajbhandari, Gajendra Bahadur Mahat, Gokul Banskota and others took part in the deliberation. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Sharma said subsidy is given in power tariffs to the mega industries so as to reduce the trade deficit. He also said the capacity building of the stakeholders was realised for the budget implementation. Saying that some tax rates have been revised and subsidy is also given, Minister Sharma informed the House that tax rates on nut and pea have been increased to control the smuggling. Likewise, taxes have been raised on hazardous and luxury goods, according to the minister. Tax rates on steel and iron goods are not changed targeting any of the industrial groups, Minister Sharma shared. Minister Sharma claimed that the budget was unveiled by keeping the interests of farmers, poor, working class people and entrepreneurs at the centre while making his commitment to bring about changes in case some issues were missing. The next meeting of the HoR will be held at 1.00 pm today. READ ALSO:

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