Biratnagar Metropolis faces revenue crunch

By Our Correspondent

Biratnagar, Aug 17 : Biratnagar Metropolitan City has not been able to obtain the indicator of internal income required to become a metropolis.

In the last fiscal year 2021/22, the Metropolis Office was able to collect only 50 percent of the minimum income required to be a metropolis.

Biratnagar Metropolitan City needs to earn more than Rs. 500 million annually to prove its eligibility to remain a metropolis.

The minimum internal income of the metropolis has been set at Rs. 1 billion, but last year, the Office earned only Rs. 490 million.

It is not because the Metropolis Office has no resources that it has no income. The large and medium-level taxpayers here have not paid the taxes to the metropolis, so it has difficulty increasing its internal income.

Big business houses operating in Biratnagar do not pay regular taxes, making it difficult for the metropolis to achieve its revenue target.

Dugar Group, known as a big business house of Biratnagar, has not paid property tax to Biratnagar Metropolitan City for years.

A mall known as a Duagr House of the Dugar Group is on the main road of Biratnagar 7. They also have land in their name in many places within the Biratnagar metropolitan area.

Big warehouses and buildings in Biratnagar 14 are named after the Duagr Group. But the metropolis has not been able to raise revenue from it for a few years. It is seen that Dugar House has to pay Rs. 8.8 million revenues as property tax and rent tax to the City Office. The Office said that despite repeated requests to pay the tax, they refused to pay the tax.

Biratnagar's business group RK Mall is also among those who do not pay business tax and property tax to the metropolis.

According to the Metropolitan City, the revenue of Rs. 2.8 million is yet to be received from RK Mall.

The mall located in Hatkhola of Biratnagar 8, which has been operating since two years ago, has not paid the business tax, rent tax, and property tax.

Even Delhi Public School operating in Biratnagar 5 has not paid property tax to the metropolis. It is seen that the metropolis has to receive revenue of Rs. 3.5 million for land, buildings, and other physical assets in the name of the school.

The Himalaya Cinema Hall on Himalaya Road in Biratnagar has not paid hundreds of thousands of revenue to the Metropolitan City Office. Himalaya Cinema Hall has to pay Rs. 3.8 million as property tax to the metropolis.

It has been found that not only the private sector but also the government institutions do not pay the property tax to the 

metropolitan city.

Food Management and Trading Company, Salt Trading Corporation, Nepal Electricity Authority, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, and other institutions too have not paid tax to the metropolis.

According to the Office, taxes of more than Rs. 3.5 million have yet to be collected from each corporation.

Saroj Gautam, an officer of the revenue section of the Metropolitan City Office, informed that government institutions, including Nepal Telecom, Nepal Oil Corporation, and Milk Distribution Project pay regular taxes to Biratnagar Metropolitan City.

The Office has informed that the big taxpayers are being asked to pay their taxes regularly but they are ignoring the calls.

Gautam said, "The City is facing an ironic situation where big and conscious taxpayers do not pay their taxes, even though we have warned them many times; they are not interested in paying the taxes. Businessmen try to lure and influence our employees, and behave irresponsibly."

He said, "We follow them to pay taxes, they also come in contact," Gautam said. “When they come in contact, they ask for calculations and some people start saying, Sir, let's meet separately, let's minimize taxes, or we will think about you too. They don't care about paying taxes."

The metropolis has the details of receiving more than Rs. 1 million from dozens of people within the metropolis, but the metropolis is also failing to create an environment for them to pay taxes.

"We are getting low income not because we don't have a source of revenue, but because we are unable to create an environment that forces them to pay the revenue," Gautam said.

Now the metropolis is preparing to form a revenue consultation committee to study and make necessary policies.