Kathmandu. Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle has said that the government will not back down from the VAT imposed on electricity. He also said that various options are being discussed so that the end consumer is not affected. He said that the alternative will be brought from the coming July so that the end consumer will not be affected.
Speaking at a post-budget discussion program organized by the Association of Economic Journalists of Nepal (NAFIJ) here today, Minister Khatiwada said, “We are thinking in such a way that the consumers will not be affected if VAT has been imposed on electricity.
In the budget of the coming fiscal year, the provision of tax will be imposed on consumers consuming more than 50 units of electricity. He said that the government has imposed VAT on electricity with great courage. “In the past, no one dared to talk about it,” he said.
“If everything is free or just distributed, it will be the situation in Venezuela,” he said, adding that the government has switched to a consumption-based tax. He said, “We have moved towards consumption-based tax rather than income-based tax.
He said that the budget has set the policy direction for 5 years. “Good idea, we will add bricks to the economy with good intentions,” he said.
