Speaker rules government for informing House about tax rise

Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Agni Prasad Sapkota, has ordered the government to apprise the House about the recent increase of tax on petroleum products.

In a meeting of the HoR today, Socialist Party lawmaker Sarita Giri demanded time from the Speaker to urge the government to withdraw its recent decision to impose additional tax on petroleum products, instantly.

Stating that the right to revise the criteria of tax is worldwide vested in the sovereign parliament, but in case of Nepal, the right was exercised by the Council of Ministers which had hit the people hard, she drew the parliament and government’s attention towards that end.

Consumers have been badly affected due to imposition of petroleum tax by the government and the Nepal Oil Corporation separately, according to the lawmaker.

She insisted that the global practice was that the right to increase tax net was vested in the sovereign parliament.

With the commencement of the session, Socialist Party lawmakers stood from their respective seats as a gesture of protest and Giri was granted time by the Speaker to put her views.

"People have been hit hard by the government tax system. They face 85 per cent tax burden which is nowhere in the world. Dual tax system should be ended."