Kathmandu: The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has suggested bringing the service providers including Viber, Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp, WeChat, Emo, etc., who provide internet telephone service through the internet service, under the taxation system. The OAG has also pointed out that applications such as Zoom, Bevex and Cisco, which conduct meetings, seminars, should also come under the tax threshold.
The OAG has stated that the applications for providing services through the internet are running smoothly in Nepal and some services are being paid from a US dollar account.
As per Article 67 of the Income Tax Act, as it falls within the taxable area of Nepal, no service provider has been registered before providing the service. Therefore, legal and policy reforms should be made to register these service providers and collect revenue.
In order to widen the revenue base by bringing all kinds of economic activities under the tax net, the OAG has suggested that online advertisements on e-commerce and social media including Viber, Messenger, Skype, WeChat and Facebook should be brought under the taxation system.