Commission formed to settle tax-related cases

RUDRA PANGENI KATHMANDU, Feb 12: The government has formed Tax Settlement Commission (TSC) led by Lumba Dhwaj Mahat to settle long-pending tax-related disputes and collect unpaid taxes. Mahat was also the member of Tax Settlement Commission that the government had formed in 2007. According to Ministry of Finance (MoF) officials, Director General of Inland Revenue Department (IRD) Chudamani Sharma and former director of Office of the Auditor General Umesh Dhakal are the members in the commission. The commission will serve till mid-July. But its term can be extended if needed. MoF officials say the commission has been mandated to assess and recover outstanding taxes and settle tax-related disputes filed till mid-April, 2013. The commission has been formed after a gap of seven years. Private sector has been demanding that the government form the commission to resolve problems of genuine taxpayers. According to Tax Settlement Commission Act 1976, the commission will assess and recover the due and outstanding taxes to be assessed and recovered pursuant to the Nepal laws in force in order to maintain the convenience and economic interests of the general public. It´s office will be set up at Inland Revenue Department. But it will not be allowed to look into fake VAT bill scam. Officials say unsettled tax-related cases are worth around Rs 40 billion. With the increasing number of applicants for administrative review at IRD and appeals at Revenue Tribunal, dispute settlement process is taking lot of time. In many cases, applicants are not in capacity to post deposits for legal remedy in courts. The commission will be of great help to such applicants. According to the law, the commission can even withdraw sub judice cases from IRD and tribunal and assess the problem and can settle the disputes. The commission will settle cases on a fast track mode if it finds applicants are genuinely unable to pay taxes as per the law. MoF officials say that the commission will also settle disputes arising from tax collection administered by tax officials as per tenets of laws irrespective of the taxpayer´s ability to pay tax. The government has so far formed six temporary commissions. Such alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, however, are set up as permanent bodies in the foreign countries. Talking to Republica, Pradeep Jung Pandey, president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce, recently had said that the commission can assess tax related issues of an estimated 12,000 businesspeople and businesses.