“We have credible information that a larger number of professionals with sizable income are not paying tax. We are initiating the campaign within a couple of days to bring them under the tax net," Tanka Mani Sharma, director general of the IRD, told Republica on Monday.[break]
Sharma said IRD will now study whether or not high-income earners like lawyers, medical doctors, consultants, auditors, stock brokers, Lekhandas, professors, and cooperatives have been brought under the tax net. “After conducting the study, we will request those that are yet to be brought under tax net to register for PAN or VAT,” Sharma said, adding: “We will take action against those that ignore our calls.”
IRD will collect data of high-income earners with the help of umbrella organizations of concerned professionals. “We will then match the data with our record of tax payers. This will help us identify those who are yet to be brought under the tax regime,” Sharma added.
Similarly, IRD is launching a campaign within a week to study tax compliance by educational institutions, health institutions, party palaces and house-rent earners. The department is mobilizing 500 persons, including 200 revenue officials, to launch the campaign simultaneously across the country.
"We will first take stock of tax compliance by these firms and revenue mobilized from them. This will help us sort out the firms that are not under the tax net,” Sharma said, adding that the department was also in the process of formulating a monitoring guideline to effectively regulate house rent collection.
IRD has already directed brick manufacturers to register for VAT. It is expected to bring additional revenue of Rs 500 million in the state coffer. Only around 150 of more than 700 brick kilns operating across the country are registered for VAT.
The government has formed an 11-member committee led by Begendra Poudel, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), to study situation of brick industries and address the demands placed by brick kiln owners, who recently brought brick sales to a standstill for a fortnight. Brick kiln operators have been opposing the department´s directive for VAT registration.
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