KATHMANDU, July 14: The government has announced a big waiver on the customs tax on the import of sanitary pads and their raw materials.
In the annual budget for the fiscal year 2022/23, the government has made an announcement of tax waiver acting on the demand of activists.
The activists had been demanding the removal of red tax.
The government has announced a 90 percent waiver on the customs tax being imposed on the import of sanitary pads and one percent on the import of its raw materials.
All educational institutions in PMC to have sanitary pads
Some women parliamentarians and advocates welcoming the government's move demanded the removal of some other taxes on the import of sanitary pads.
Lawmaker Dr Dila Sangraula said it was a welcoming move to waive 90 percent customs duty on the import of sanitary pads. "We had drawn the government's attention to remove VAT before the budget was unveiled," she said, adding, “But the situation has emerged in a way that domestic entrepreneurs would agitate against the government's policy decision to merely reduce the import tax.
All taxes imposed on sanitary pads should be completely waived, Dr Sangraula said.
Earlier, about 14 lawmakers from the Nepali Congress (NC) had drawn the government's attention to reducing the tax on sanitary pads and dry pads.
Another parliamentarian Meenakshi Jha said the government had somehow addressed their demand by slashing the import tax on sanitary pads but it has yet to be addressed in a holistic manner.
"A tax waiver on sanitary pads is welcome but our demand is to ensure the import of reproductive health related materials through the health ministry and waive its price on a par with other health equipment," Jha added.
"The budget has not fully addressed our demand. So we are still effortful to have our demand fully addressed," she further said.
(RSS)
