KATHMANDU, DEC 31 -
The government is mulling whether to affix a sticker or barcode on beer bottles to keep track of production volume and taxes due. The present method of using flow meters and counting the number of crowns is being replaced in a bid to control possible tax evasion.
The government has been stingy with using expensive stickers on beer bottles since they generate less revenue unlike liquor. The stickers need to be printed at a security press abroad and cost a lot of money. So they are not cost-effective for use on a product like beer, according to the government . Chief of the Revenue Department at the Finance Ministry Rajan Khanal said that studies were being carried out to determine the exact volume of beer
Beer contributes around Rs 5 billion annually to the government ’s coffers, according to Khanal. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) said there were about half a dozen beer factories in the country.
Khanal said that the government had not set any specific time frame to start using stickers or bar codes. “We are just studying the matter presently,” he said. “Launching a new system from the next fiscal year may not be feasible.”
Meanwhile, the government has been finding it difficult to enforce the flow meter system in beer factories as the equipment is usually kaput.
“We have not being paying much attention to keeping the flow meters in running condition at a number of factories because there are other ways to make sure that the government is getting its taxes,” said Ram Mani Duwadi, deputy director general at the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).
Flow meters were made mandatory in beer factories a few years ago to record the number of bottles filled. “If the flow meter should break down, we have other mechanisms such as counting the crowns and checking the stock of raw materials and production,” said Duwadi.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
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