PAC members press hoteliers to clear casinos' dues

KATHMANDU, March 1: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of legislature-parliament could not decide fate of tax-defaulting casinos on Tuesday as well. The committee has been discussing on the issue for the past three days.



The PAC had summoned officials of Inland Revenue Department (IRD), Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) and hoteliers on Tuesday. During the meeting, the PAC members pressed management of the hotels to clear tax liability of casinos operating on their premises. [break]



Speaking at the meeting, lawmakers said the hoteliers should not shy away from their responsibility of clearing outstanding dues. “We can reschedule time for payment, but the hoteliers should clear tax liabilities,” Prakash Chandra Lohani of Rastriya Janashakti Party said, adding that casino is a tourism product and should be used for tourism promotion without involving Nepali citizens. He also said there should be a strict monitoring mechanism to prohibit entry of Nepalis in casinos.



Another lawmaker Lal Babu Pant said the government should collect outstanding dues from hotels even if it leads to closure of hotels.



However, Ram Mani Dawadi, deputy director general of DRI, said it the responsibility of clearing tax liability lies with the casinos and not the hotels.



President of Hotel Association of Nepal Prasiddha Bahadur Pandey clarified that hotels were not trying to escape from their responsibility. “As a contracting party, we take it as our obligation to clear tax liability,” he added.



An official of Soaltee Crown Plaza argued that it was illogical to terminate operating license of the hotel for Casino Nepal´s failure to clear tax liability. The official told PAC members that the hotel would, if required, clear tax liability by selling off properties of Nepal Recreation Centre - the promoter of Casino Nepal.



The DRI had given casinos 35 days to clear their outstanding tax liabilities as per the direction of the PAC. The deadline expired two weeks ago. The DRI had asked the casinos to clear tax liabilities of face revocation of their operating license.



The department managed to collect Rs 209 million from casinos after the 35-day notice was issued.

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