Importers must now declare retail prices of 11 more items

KATHMANDU, DEC 19 -

Importers now have to declare the maximum retail price (MRP) of another 11 products upon entry at the customs points. Following the go-ahead by the Finance Ministry, the Department of Customs (DoC) will be enforcing the mandatory MRP declaration from Jan 15, 2012.

The new products in the MRP declaration list are TV, air conditioner, refrigerator, washing machine, microwave oven, energy drink, marble, granite and tiles, cooking range, kitchen chimney, digital camera and video camera.

According to the department, these items were selected for mandatory MRP declaration as they are high selling products in the Nepali market. The department has expanded the list for MRP declaration to control rampant under-invoicing at the customs.

Under-valuing imports during customs clearance has emerged as the main reason behind the recent spate of tax evasion by businesses using fake VAT receipts.

At present, only automobile importers are required to declare the MRP at the customs. The DoC imposed the provision last year.

The DoC has also enacted a working policy in the implementation of the MRP declaration and sent it to all the customs offices. The policy states that regular monitoring will be conducted to check whether the MRP declaration has been effectively followed or not. The DoC has formed a mechanism to implement the MRP declaration with representatives from the Revenue Investigation Department (RID), Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and the private sector, among others.

The DoC finalised 11 items from a list of 15 items as per the Finance Ministry’s direction to implement the provision according to urgency and appropriateness. “The items were finalized for the MRP declaration as per the ministry’s recommendation,” said Laxman Aryal, DoC deputy director general.  The department said that the MRP declaration would be made mandatory within the current fiscal year for rest of the items. “This will be done on the basis of how well the MRP declaration on the 11 items progresses,” said Sarad Kanta Adhikary, officer of the evaluation division. He added that the list of items that were chosen had a high record of under-valuation, with a huge gap between the price declared at the customs and the selling price in the market.

The other items recommended by the Finance Ministry include carpet, watch and clock, shoes and colour and paint.

The Financial Act has brought forward the MRP declaration in an attempt to discourage evasion of import duty through under-invoicing, which has been hurting the government’s revenue collection campaign greatly.

DoC officials said that the MRP declaration would help reduce VAT dodging through under-invoicing.

Items for MRP declaration

    TV

    Air conditioner

    Refrigerator

    Washing machine

    Microwave oven,

    Energy drink,

    Marble, granite and tiles

    Cooking range,

    Kitchen chimney,

    Digital camera

    Video camera

Source: Kantipur