Three organizations took issue with the issue of co-ordination: IT industry is doomed to collapse, immediate solution is necessary.
Nepal Association for Software and IT Services Companies (NAS IT), Confederation of Nepal Industry (CNI) and American Chamber of Commerce in Nepal (MCHAM Nepal) have expressed serious attention to the activities of discouraging investors and reducing the morale of the private sector in relation to tax compliance related to information technology industry. are
After the case was filed against Cotivity Nepal, the three organizations issued a joint statement and drew attention to the fact that the tax compliance related to the IT industry is discouraging investors and reducing the morale of the private sector.
It is sad that the government level is trying to unnecessarily increase the economic liability of these industries unusually by explaining the tax treatment in a different and experimental form, while the tax and other matters are within the legal scope as specified in the law, and the tax behaviour that has been done so far has been explained in a different way. We sincerely request all concerned to be serious as such actions will destroy the industry related to information technology as a whole. On top of that, it is unfortunate to apply criminal action against companies operating in this sector.’
According to them, activities that are different from the prevailing tax laws and practices are worrying. The three organizations have also seriously requested that the technology transfer process will be stopped, the current and future jobs will be stopped, the competitiveness of Nepalese will decrease, the revenue will also be affected and the overall economy of Nepal will be seriously affected.
Although they are committed that the tax law of Nepal should be applied equally and every person and company should stay within its scope, taxing someone unnecessarily by misinterpreting the tax law and taking criminal action has an impact on the slowly growing IT industry and its contribution to job creation and revenue. Three organizations have appealed to such industries and foreign investors to assure that there is an investment environment in Nepal.
It is their belief that such decisions on the eve of the investment conference, which is going to be organized by the Nepal government with high importance and expectations, will not send a positive message to the investors.
Therefore, in order to protect the maximum interests of the IT industry and to maintain legal and policy clarity, the three organizations have requested the government and concerned agencies to create a business environment.
A few days ago, the Revenue Investigation Department filed a lawsuit against Cotivity Nepal for misinterpreting the law and imposing a penalty of more than 10 billion.
