IRD’s revenue collection target unmet

Kathmandu, November 16

Shortfall in collection of value added tax (VAT) and income tax hit the government’s revenue collection in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year.

In the period between mid-July and mid-November, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) collected revenue amounting to Rs 104 billion, which was 83.2 per cent of the set target.

Of the IRD’s annual revenue collection target of Rs 506 billion set for the current fiscal 2019-20, the target for the first four months was Rs 125 billion.

Binod Bahadur Kunwar, director general at IRD, informed that the department was also unable to meet the revenue collection target set for excise duty, health service tax and education service fee.

However, the collected amount was an increase of 23 per cent against IRD’s revenue collection made in the same period of last fiscal.

In this backdrop, Kunwar claimed that the department is continuously identifying the lapses and initiating reforms for revenue collection.

“Our study team has recently submitted a report on how to effectively collect revenue under various headings,” he informed, adding that the IRD will gradually implement the given recommendations.

The IRD had formed the study team in the month of July to identify the lapses in tax mechanism.

As per Kunwar, the department will continue market monitoring throughout the year, which is expected to help expand the tax net.

Moreover, IRD is also gearing up to provide the facility of 10 per cent cashback on electronic payments.

However, stakeholders have said that it is not possible to implement such a provision unless IRD’s software is made compatible with that of point of sale (PoS) terminals.

“We are in the process of developing a new software and working procedure to implement the provision of cashback,” Kunwar said.

He further said that the department will gradually implement its five-year (2018-19 to 2022-23) tax reform strategic plan.

The government is going to mark the eighth National Tax Day tomorrow and is scheduled to felicitate the highest taxpayer firms and individuals.