Bhaktapur, October 31:

Three educational organisations today filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the imposition of five per cent Education Service Tax (EST) on institutional schools.

The Institutional Schools’ Association Nepal (ISAN), the Society of Legal Studies and the Guardians’ Association of Nepal today jointly filed a writ stating that the government’s decision “to impose tax on every children” was against the constitution. They have also sought SC intervention to scrap the tax.

Saroj Raj Gosai, president of ISAN, told The Himalayan Times, “On the one hand, the government has considered education as the fundamental right that should be given free of cost and on the other hand it has imposed tax on schools.”

In accordance with the Financial Bill-2008, the Inland Revenue Department has already published a notice inviting the schools to pay EST from Ashwin (mid-September). Gosai said the imposition of tax on schools based on the number of students was unconstitutional and it violate the inherent rights of the students.

“The government neither consulted with the private schools organisations nor it sought permission from Fee Fixing Committee before taking the decision on tax,” he added.