“Inland Revenue Offices in Kathmandu Valley and outside have sent them letters, demanding that they disclose their property, sources of income and tax payment records, among other things", said Kapil Dev Ghimire, director general of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). [break]
He, however, refused to disclose the names of the individuals and other particulars. “We are in the investigation phase, so it will be inappropriate to unveil their names. All I can say now is they are people working in revenue sensitive sectors,” Ghimire told myrepublica.com.
IRD has tagged 10 major sectors including real estate, manpower agencies, health and education consultancies, commission agencies, legal professionals and hundi (informal remittance agencies) as revenue sensitive.
While vowing not to spare people who refuse to correct their tax behavior, the Ministry of Finance has booked 10,000 individuals and firms under red, identifying them as potential tax evaders. The list was generated through information passed on by revenue offices and informers.
Likewise, IRD during the VDIS period had gathered information on people who bought land worth Rs 2.5 million or more over the last four years or own promoter shares of banks. It also generated a database on real estate dealers, manpower agents, doctors, lawyers, school and educational consultancy operators and owners of expensive vehicles.
“Investigations against 900 suspicious tax payers are just the start of the show and people who amassed property without paying due taxes will be slapped fines and forced to comply with the law,” said a senior MoF official.
In its letter, the Inland Revenue Office has strictly instructed people under the scanner to furnish details of their income and tax payment slips within 15 days, which is in line with the VDIS Action Manual that the government endorsed recently.
If they complied with the instructions and admit tax evasion, IRD has promised to let them go with payment of just 60 percent tax, which includes regular incomes tax of 25 percent, fine of 100 percent (additional 25 percent) and interest for the period of evasion (averaged at 10 percent).
“In case the party denies evasion and IRD through its investigation eventually established his/her tax liability, the department will move on to seize the property and also take action under law on fraudulent activity,” said the official.
Ghimire said that the investigations will be completed in 30 days. “So, IRD will actually land the axe against tax evaders after only a month of starting investigations,” he stated.
milan@myrepublica.com
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