Retailers blame wholesalers for tax evasion
KATHMANDU:
Retailers blamed the wholesalers for the leakage in revenue. “We cannot show bills of goods unless wholesalers provide us real bill,” they said speaking at a programme ‘Challenges of Retail Trade and Consumer Protection in Nepal’ organised by Revenue Administration Training Centre here in the Valley today.
The retailers also blamed the government for being a mute spectator on fraudulent activities carried out by big importer and wholesalers. “The government’s monitoring agencies ask us the real bill, while they come for market monitoring,” president of Retailers Association of Nepal Pabitra Bajracharya said, adding that the government should ask Value Added Tax (VAT) along with other bills from big importers and wholesalers before torturing to the retailers.
The government has failed to bring big importer and wholesalers under the tax net, he said, accusing the government of being influenced by the big traders. “All the traders, who have been hurting government’s coffer are under the protection of Singhadurbar — the political and bureaucratic power centre of the country,” he accused.
The government’s monitoring agencies – Department of Commerce and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology – are the centre of ‘corruption’, he charged, saying that those agencies monitor the market just to bargain with retailers.
Senior economic advisor at the Finance Ministry Keshav Acharya agreed that there is some misconduct by the traders. Some 28,000 importers are registered in Nepal, he said, adding that the trend of registering firm in the name of gullible rural people is on the rise. “The government has introduced the system of giving identity card to importers to control illegal trend while importing goods,” he added. “The government has also introduced a system of fixing Maximum Retail Price (MRP) to control black marketing.”
In the programme, senior instructor at the Revenue Administration Training Centre Basu Sharma stressed the need of controlling market price.
“Retail trade alone is not responsible to the rampant market price hike,” he said, adding that the practise of cartel and syndicate by big traders is equally responsible for the artificial price hike. “Artificial scarcity, collective price fixing and collective bidding have also promoted unwarranted inflation,” Sharman added.
Stating that the government has failed on monitoring the market, he said that pricing policy failure of the government is leading to the market failure. “The government has failed to calculate demand and supply side paving the way for hoarding of essential goods. The government has even failed to forecast supply of essential goods.”
Similarly, consumer rights activist Ramchandra Simkhada demanded the government to implement Black Market Act and Consumer Rights Protection Act to control rampant price hike. Some handful traders are controlling the market, he said, adding that price of essential commodities is fixed by them artificially.
“Consumers are being cheated at the festive time more, he said, demanding transparent monitoring.
Plea to control market price
Ministry of Commerce and Supplies is preparing to encourage more entrepreneurs to open outlets targeting Dashain festival, according to spokesperson of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Prasad Dhakal. “The initiative will help meet the demand and supply at the time of Dashain,” he said, adding that more outlets ensure competition and stop black marketing at the time of festivals. Keeping the unnecessary price hike by public transporter at the time of Dashain, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies has asked the concerned government bodies to develop detail work plan to ease the supply system and improve service.
Source: THT
Retailers blamed the wholesalers for the leakage in revenue. “We cannot show bills of goods unless wholesalers provide us real bill,” they said speaking at a programme ‘Challenges of Retail Trade and Consumer Protection in Nepal’ organised by Revenue Administration Training Centre here in the Valley today.
The retailers also blamed the government for being a mute spectator on fraudulent activities carried out by big importer and wholesalers. “The government’s monitoring agencies ask us the real bill, while they come for market monitoring,” president of Retailers Association of Nepal Pabitra Bajracharya said, adding that the government should ask Value Added Tax (VAT) along with other bills from big importers and wholesalers before torturing to the retailers.
The government has failed to bring big importer and wholesalers under the tax net, he said, accusing the government of being influenced by the big traders. “All the traders, who have been hurting government’s coffer are under the protection of Singhadurbar — the political and bureaucratic power centre of the country,” he accused.
The government’s monitoring agencies – Department of Commerce and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology – are the centre of ‘corruption’, he charged, saying that those agencies monitor the market just to bargain with retailers.
Senior economic advisor at the Finance Ministry Keshav Acharya agreed that there is some misconduct by the traders. Some 28,000 importers are registered in Nepal, he said, adding that the trend of registering firm in the name of gullible rural people is on the rise. “The government has introduced the system of giving identity card to importers to control illegal trend while importing goods,” he added. “The government has also introduced a system of fixing Maximum Retail Price (MRP) to control black marketing.”
In the programme, senior instructor at the Revenue Administration Training Centre Basu Sharma stressed the need of controlling market price.
“Retail trade alone is not responsible to the rampant market price hike,” he said, adding that the practise of cartel and syndicate by big traders is equally responsible for the artificial price hike. “Artificial scarcity, collective price fixing and collective bidding have also promoted unwarranted inflation,” Sharman added.
Stating that the government has failed on monitoring the market, he said that pricing policy failure of the government is leading to the market failure. “The government has failed to calculate demand and supply side paving the way for hoarding of essential goods. The government has even failed to forecast supply of essential goods.”
Similarly, consumer rights activist Ramchandra Simkhada demanded the government to implement Black Market Act and Consumer Rights Protection Act to control rampant price hike. Some handful traders are controlling the market, he said, adding that price of essential commodities is fixed by them artificially.
“Consumers are being cheated at the festive time more, he said, demanding transparent monitoring.
Plea to control market price
Ministry of Commerce and Supplies is preparing to encourage more entrepreneurs to open outlets targeting Dashain festival, according to spokesperson of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Prasad Dhakal. “The initiative will help meet the demand and supply at the time of Dashain,” he said, adding that more outlets ensure competition and stop black marketing at the time of festivals. Keeping the unnecessary price hike by public transporter at the time of Dashain, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies has asked the concerned government bodies to develop detail work plan to ease the supply system and improve service.
Source: THT
