The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) collected Rs 220 million today — on the last day of the extended deadline of the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Sources (VDIS) scheme.
The Finance Ministry has managed to mop up Rs 1.51 billion, thanks to this scheme, that exceeds its minimum target of Rs 1 billion.
“Our records reveal that around 3,600 people have paid taxes after declaring their assets till today. However, we had compiled a list of 10,000 people,” said Kapil Dev Ghimire, director general, IRD.
The government extended the deadline by a month after the industry captains urged the former to accede to their request.
In the first phase, the government had managed to rake in Rs 1.42 billion. The original deadline had expired on February 11.
But, the extension came in handy for the government if the collections are anything to go by. It collected an additional Rs 467.8 million from 1,600 people.
Interestingly, a bulk of the people, who availed of the revised deadline, is realtors.
Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattrai has announced the scheme during his budget speech on September 19, 2008.
As per the VDIS, an individual can declare property that has no specific source of income. The tax payee has to cough up 10 per cent of the total cost of the asset to make it legitimate.
On the last day, a person paid a record Rs 4.7 million.
According to the IRD, only 15 per cent of the sum was collected from outside the Valley. Biratnagar came second to the capital.
Dr Bhattarai made an announcement for all those who did not come under the scheme.
“They have to pay a cumulative tax of 65 per cent, inclusive of penalty,” said the Finance Minister.
“We will prepare the defaulters’ list, which runs up to around 6,400 people, within the next three days. We will send letters to them, urging them to pay up soon. They will be booked if they fail to furnish sources of income and asset,” added Ghimire.
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