Kathmandu. Finance Minister Dr. Swarnim Wagle has said that the government has the right to change the tax rate. He made the claim while speaking at a meeting of the Finance Committee held in Singha Durbar on Wednesday.
According to him, the Finance Minister is the final decision-maker in the process of determining the tax rates. However, he said that it is a matter of collective and policy consensus. He made it clear that the budget and tax rates will not be decided by the Finance Minister alone but will be decided after discussions by a large group of experts and stakeholders. Dr. Referring to the provisions of Clause 18 of the Finance Act, Wagle said that there is a legal provision that the government can reduce or increase the tax, fees or tariff as per the need of the government. According to him, this is a regular and global practice of public finance management.
Dr. Stating that the infrastructure fee was reduced in the past due to the increase in the price of oil to give relief to the general public, Wagle said that the government can take such decisions through the Council of Ministers by exercising the powers given by the Act for the public welfare. He also said that such discussions and decisions to be held at the policy-level would be transparent and institutionalized. He also admitted that there were some technical errors in the printing of the bill designed to implement the government’s proposal related to finance and that it has been corrected and the members of the Federal Parliament have been informed.
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