June 22: The Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has drawn the attention of the finance minister towards the air tickets becoming expensive due to the imposition of VAT on airfare by the government.    
A NATTA delegation led by its president Ramesh Thapa met with Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat on Wednesday and requested the government to roll back its decision to levy value added tax (VAT) on air tickets. Citing that the imposition of VAT on airfare through the budget for fiscal year 2023-24 has made the air tickets costlier, the delegation warned that this might adversely impact the tourism industry.    
"As both the domestic and international airfare in Nepal are already expensive at present, the airfare would become exorbitantly high with the addition of VAT in the present situation. There is also a possibility of tourist arrivals falling down and the prospective foreign tourists opting to travel to airports in Bagdogara, Gorakhpur among other airports in India due to their proximity to the Nepal due to the high airfare in Nepal," Thapa said.    
He argued that the decision of imposing VAT on airfare would have a serious impact on the government's goal of bringing more than a million tourists into Nepal in the upcoming fiscal year.    
NATTA said imposition of VAT only in Nepal would make the air tickets issued by Nepali travel agencies more expensive while it would be cheaper booking tickets online and in foreign countries. This will compel foreign tourists to book air tickets from foreign countries, resulting in loss of foreign currency earning and an increased risk of the government losing the tax it has been getting from the travel agencies and the loss of employment provided by the latter.    
NATTA also called for a change in the provision of the Nepali citizen having to purchase package tour from the foreign currency facility that one gets while going on a foreign tour.    
During the meeting, Finance Minister Dr Mahat expressed his commitment that the government would take measures so that the tourism entrepreneurs would not face problems for the development of tourism sector in Nepal.  -- RSS