Kathmandu. Nepali Congress MP and former Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat has said that customs duty on imported goods should be increased to protect domestic industry. Speaking at the Finance Committee meeting under the House of Representatives on Wednesday, MP Mahat said that it is necessary to make imported goods more expensive to make domestic industry competitive.
He urged a review, saying that there have been complaints about taxes being imposed on domestic products and customs duty being reduced on imported goods. He said that domestic industries cannot be made competitive unless the customs policy is reviewed.
MP Mahat said that gold is not a luxury for Nepalis but can be converted into cash immediately in times of crisis, and that it is also necessary to review the luxury tax imposed on it.
He said, ‘We had to make imported products more expensive. Customs rates had to be increased. Now the Ministry of Finance should be serious about this. Rather than not introducing a value-added tax system on domestic products, we should increase the customs rates on imported products. If we want to make our industry and business competitive, we have to increase the customs rates. Now it has been said that it has been reduced.’
‘There was also a complaint that taxes were imposed on domestic products. Now whether this will be addressed or not, but I think it is a matter of serious thought. Gold is also not a luxury item for us. Since we are going to be converted into cash immediately when we are in trouble, we should also consider this. I have also said this in Parliament. Although a tax should be imposed on customs to stop gold smuggling, we should look into the tax on gold purchased for consumption,’ Nau said.
He stressed that imported goods should be made expensive to promote the use of domestic products.
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