Kathmandu, December 8

The Large Taxpayers’ Office (LTO) has asked the private telecom firm Ncell to deposit Rs 22.44 billion of the remaining capital gains tax (CGT) in its buyout deal.

Based on the full verdict of the Supreme Court (SC) of November 21 which had set Rs 21.1 billion tax liability on Ncell, the LTO has determined Rs 22.44 billion (including fines) as the pending CGT and asked the company to deposit the given amount in the government coffer within December 19.

“The remaining tax liability of Ncell has been calculated based on the apex court’s decision. We sent a letter to Ncell last Thursday asking it to pay Rs 22.44 billion remaining tax,” informed Jhalak Ram Adhikari, chief tax administrator at the LTO.

The full text of SC had quashed the CGT liability determined by the LTO on Ncell which was worth Rs 62.63 billion citing that imposing an additional 50 per cent fine on applicable CGT liability on Ncell was not as per the law.

Since Ncell had paid Rs 23.57 billion as CGT to the government on June 4, 2017, LTO had determined Rs 39.06 billion as remaining CGT liability of Ncell. However, Ncell had moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on LTO’s decision, arguing that the office had violated the due process while reassessing Ncell’s CGT liability. Primarily, Ncell had objected to LTO’s decision to impose 50 per cent fine on the applicable tax amount.

Subsequently, the apex court had ruled in Ncell’s favour on August 25, observing that it could be expected to fulfil its CGT liability from February 6, when the SC gave its ruling, and not the date the LTO had mentioned for imposing CGT on Ncell.