KATHMANDU, March 12: Naya Shakti Party, Nepal has strongly condemned the government decision regarding recovery of capital gains tax (CGT) from the buyer of Ncell, the telecommunications company.

Issuing a press release on Sunday, Naya Shakti alleged that the government decision  helped Ncell in evading the CGT amounting to Rs. 33 billion. It has termed the government’s decision as  the climax of shamelessness .

CGT is charged while a particular company is sold, said the Naya Shakti. Stating that CGT is charged even when a  poor sell their land and house, the Naya Shakti coordinator Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that  the government’s decision to grant exemption to Ncell from CGT as “policy-related crime”. "The government’s decision to this effect is not only corruption but also treason," said  Dr Bhattarai. He has excoriated the government for its unnecessary involvement in intervening in the jurisdiction of a tax officer.

"In the absence of political interference from the center, a tax officer has an authority to collect CGT  from the concerned companies.  The coalition government unnecessarily used power to grant Ncell company exemption from CGT by violating the law blatantly," stated the press release.  

Putting an end to long-running controversy, the government on Wednesday decided to recover CGT from the seller of GSM operator Ncell.

The cabinet meeting held on Wednesday directed the Ministry of Finance to recover CGT as per the decision of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of May 29 and Finance Committee of June 3 from the seller of Ncell.

The decision means Swedish communication firm, TeliaSonera AB, has to pay CGT to the Nepal government.

 
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• ncell