KATHMANDU: The government has announced a big waiver on custom tax on the import of sanitary pads and their raw materials.
In the annual budget for the fiscal year 2022/23, the government made announcement on tax waiver acting on the demand of activists.
The activists had been demanding the removal of red tax.
The government has announced 90% waiver on the custom tax being imposed on the import of sanitary pads and 1% on the import of their raw materials.
Some women parliamentarians and advocates welcoming the government's move demanded the removal of some other taxes on the import of sanitary pads.
Lawmaker Dila Sangraula said it was a welcoming move to waive 90% custom tax on the import of sanitary pads. "We had drawn government's attention to remove VAT before the budget unveiled," she said and added, but the situation has emerged in a way that domestic entrepreneurs would agitate against the government's policy decision to merely reduce import tax.
All taxes involved in sanitary pads should be completely waived, Dr Sangraula noted.
It may be noted that 14 lawmakers from the Nepali Congress (NC) had earlier drawn the government's attention towards reducing tax on sanitary pads and dry pads.
Another parliamentarian Meenakshi Jha said the government had somehow addressed their demand by slashing import tax on sanitary pads but it has yet to be addressed in a holistic manner.
"Tax waiver on the sanitary pads is welcoming but our demand is to ensure import of reproductive health-related materials through the Ministry of Health and Population and waive their price at par with other health equipment," Jha added.
"The budget has not fully addressed our demand. So we are still effortful to have our demand fully addressed", she further lawmaker Jha said.
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Published Date: July 14, 2022, 12:00 am
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