By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar. 26: Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BICCI) has suggested the Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma to double the limit of the taxable income.
According to it, the limit for the taxable income should be raised to Rs. 800,000 for a single person and Rs. 850,000 for a married couple.

“The country should also change the current single rate Value Added Tax (VAT) to multi-rate and impose minimum VAT on necessary commodities,” BICCI President Subodh Kumar Gupta said at a press conference organised in Kathmandu on Friday after meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand, FM Sharma, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari and other high government officials over a period of five days.

He said that the government should recognise the GST receipt while importing goods from India and refer to the website of the respective company for the price of the goods imported from the third countries.
The business body also demanded that there should be a difference of at least 15 per cent in the imports of raw materials and finished goods and remove the customs duty of Rs. 1 per kg in pulses. It suggested set the rent of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to Rs. 5 per square per month from the current Rs. 20 per sq. feet a month.

“Likewise, SEZ should welcome industries that export 25 per cent of their product instead of current policy of 60 per cent export. Income tax discount period should be increased to 5-10 years from 2 years,” read a statement issued by BICCI. Similarly, in the meeting with Governor Adhikari, the BICCI delegation urged for a policy to mobilise agriculture loan at 2 per cent interest rate.