NC, UML rap FNCCI stance on tax

KATHMANDU, May 13: Ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have taken exception to the decision of the FNCCI not to pay tax to the government and donations to political parties if the parties fail to forge an agreement by Saturday.

• FNCCI gives parties two days for accord

NC leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said the decision of the FNCCI makes no sense. “This is something unusual. They cannot equate payment of tax compulsorily payable under law with the extortions [exacted by certain political parties],” he told myrepublica.com. “If they need security they have to ask the government but the decision as such makes no sense.” [break]



Dr Mahat argued that the FNCCI must make public the extortion amount paid to a particular party. “The public has every right to know how much they have paid the political parties,” he added.



UML leader Pradip Gyawali said though the spirit of the FNCCI decision is understandable the method the umbrella body of the business community has adopted does not help the parties find an outlet to the current political deadlock. “It is not appropriate to randomly put the blame on certain parties without analyzing properly where the deadlock hinges,” he said.



He argued that the FNCCI decision must have come by way of balancing their stance as they had earlier exerted pressure on the UCPN (Maoist) to withdraw its indefinite general strike. “Nevertheless, it does not sound proper to threaten not to pay tax to the state, which is a legitimate entity,” he said.

Related story

UML Chairman Oli releases new rap song from LOD club