Fun Park earns millions without paying tax

By Our Correspondent Birtamode, June 6: It has been found that Happy Land Fun Park, which is in operation in Kankai Municipality-3 and 2 of Jhapa, is running without paying tax to the municipality for years. 

The issue has come to the light after the Chepti Fun Park run by Dinesh Shivakoti, operator of the Happy Land Fun Park, grabbed government and forest lands worth millions of rupees in Mai Municipality-2 of Ilam district. Shivakoti is operating the Happy Land in his own village. 

Kankai Municipality official Vivek Bhandari said that the Fun Park has not paid a single rupee in tax to the municipality for the last five years even though it has collected millions of rupees as fees.

 According to the municipality, the company has been refusing to pay the tax even though the local government made multiple requests and sent letters asking it to pay the tax.  

Locals have come against the municipality complaining that when a general businessperson has to pay the tax of the board installed for business purpose, it has not brought the Fun Park into the tax net. 

Kankai Municipality has a clear provision to collect 5 per cent of the income from each ticket sold as entertainment tax. 

Thus, Happy Land Fun Park, i.e. Selfie Danda, has a liability of tens of millions of rupees in taxes to the municipality. 

Happy Land charges at least Rs. 200 and in special cases Rs. 500 per ticket. As cinema halls are also operating within the park, it has to pay more than 10 million rupees tax to the municipality. 

Happy Land has been doing banking transactions stating that its daily collection amounts to Rs. 1 million.