Private sector asks chief ministers to scrap double taxation on inter-provincial trade

At the ongoing inter-provincial chief ministers' conference in Biratnagar, the private sector has urged chief ministers of all seven provinces to scrap the double taxation levied on trade between provinces.

Under the two-day conference that began Monday, discussions were held with the private sector on Tuesday. Rajendra Raut, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Koshi Province, said that taxes were being collected twice on trade ranging from stone, gravel and sand to scrap.

He reminded the gathering that Article 236 of the constitution bars provinces or local levels from imposing taxes or obstructions on the movement of goods and services between them. President Raut demanded that a receipt paid in one tier should be valid across all provinces, noting that goods produced in one province could be used as raw material by industries in another.

He stressed that Koshi's distinctive products such as rudraksha, cardamom, chhurpi, tea, ginger, amliso and hill fruits should form the province's economic base through exports and tourism, and that provincial economic development should not be limited to budget spending alone but linked to production, employment and citizens' income.

According to Raut, the seven provinces spent only about 67 percent of their combined budget of roughly Rs 288 billion last fiscal year. Koshi's business community also drew the chief ministers' attention to developing inter-provincial air connectivity.