December 2: The government has failed to collect more than Rs 171 billion in arrears from taxpayers. The state has not been able to collect a large amount of tax as the taxpayers are not satisfied with the tax fixed by the tax office.

The taxpayers have moved the court and have not paid the taxes on time. According to the latest report of the Inland Revenue Department, the total arrears is Rs. 171.39 billion.

According to the IRD, the arrears of Rs 39.4 billion was yet to be collected as of last fiscal year (FY 2077/78). The disgruntled taxpayers have appealed to the administrative review and judicial bodies regarding tax assessment worth Rs. 131.98 billion as well.

In FY 2077/78, the IRD collected income tax of Rs. 2.51 billion against the target of Rs 10.1 billion. This is only 25 percent of the target.

Similarly, out of the target of Rs 4.47 billion towards value-added tax, Rs.5.41 billion has been collected.

Under the heading of arrears adjustment, the IRD had set a target of collecting Rs 23.35 billion, but it managed to collect only Rs 6.13 billion. This is 26 percent of the target. 

Likewise, in terms of VAT, only Rs 4.28 billion has been collected out of Rs 10.45 billion. This amount is 41 percent of the total target. 

According to the records kept by the IRD, it has settled arrears of Rs 28.86 billion as of FY 2077/78.

According to Raju Prasad Pyakurel, Information Officer of the department, they have been setting monthly and annual targets of settling arrears, preparing strategy, and monitoring the progress of arrears settlement.

He claimed that the department is mobilizing a separate unit to make adjustments and to settle arrears. The department is making progress every year, he added.