July 24: The government of Nepal has collected revenue of Rs 527.14 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2016/17. The amount is 33.1 percent more than the revenue collection in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. In the first 11 months of the FY 2015/16, the government had collected revenue of Rs 396.02 billion.

A report entitled ‘Economic and financial status of the country’ published by Nepal Rastra Bank attributes the rise in revenue collection to the sharp increase in collection of value added tax (VAT), customs duty, income tax, excise duty  among others.

The government collected VAT worth Rs 146.44 billion, which is 27.8 percent of total revenue collected by the government in the first 11 months of the last FY. Last year’s VAT collection was also up by 34.5 percent compared to the previous year.

Within the period, customs duty has increased by 45.7 percent, excise duty by 78.3 percent, vehicle tax by 25.9 percent and registration fee by 76.8 percent. Collection of other tax has dropped by overall 26.7 percent. The other tax category includes road construction and repair tax as well as business registration fee.

During the review period, customs duty contributed 19.4 percent to the overall revenue collection while the contribution of income tax was 22.7 percent.

The government’s expenditure as compared to its resource mobilization has remained minimal due to which the government’s cash reserve has reached Rs 269.07 billion.

During the review period, the total government expenditure in terms of cash flow had increased by 43 percent to Rs 555.10 billion. The government expenditure in the corresponding period of the previous FY was 388.31 billion.