Finance minister orders cash rewards for sellers who issue bills too

Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle has directed that arrangements be made to give cash rewards also to sellers who issue bills under the taxpayer incentive programme.

He gave the instruction at a revenue review meeting at the Ministry of Finance on Friday, asking the Inland Revenue Department to bring a proposal to amend the procedure.

Minister Wagle said that while the habit of taking bills has grown among consumers, there have been complaints that traders hesitate to issue bills, making it necessary to incentivize sellers as well.

With the aim of formalizing the economy, the government has been giving cash prizes to consumers who take bills since the start of this fiscal year. Under the programme, which began on Sawan 1, about one person is selected daily based on bill numbers and given around Rs 134,000.

After the programme was found to have increased the habit of taking bills and directly benefited revenue collection, authorities are now looking to bring sellers into the scheme as well.

At the meeting of the Revenue Consultative Committee, Minister Wagle said that to meet the budget's large revenue target, arrears collection must be made effective and leakages stopped completely.