Govt. extends VDIS deadline; collects Rs. 1.4b

The government on Wednesday evening has extended the deadline for the Voluntary Disclosure of Income Source (VDIS) scheme by one month.

The decision to extend deadline for the VDIS scheme till March 11 was made after a meeting between the Ministry of Finance (MoF) officials, representatives of the business community and Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, who had arrived home after finishing his official visit to Japan on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier, a delegation of Federation of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and requested him to extend the VDIS deadline to April 11. The deadline for the VDIS was fixed February 11.

Meanwhile, the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) has collected Rs.1.4 billion under the Voluntary Discloser of Income Source (VDIS) scheme from disclosure of property worth Rs. 10.4 billion till Wednesday. More than 1,800 people took benefit of the scheme and legalized their property.

According to the IRD, it received Rs 700 million amounts under the scheme on Wednesday alone. Similarly, it had collected Rs. 200 million on Tuesday and Rs 75 million on Monday.

The government has targeted to generate up to 2 billion from the scheme. It has also been warning to take strict action against those who do not submit tax. According to the Income Tax Act, it allows the government to slap tax defaulters a penalty up to 100 percent apart from seizing their property.