Three months earlier the Customs Duty Office of Birgunj halted computer monitor of Dell Company. The customs duty said that the computer monitors with HDMI have to pay a tax equals to television; they stated those monitors are being sold as televisions in the market. Meanwhile, the business person claims computer accessories do not need to be charged with any customs duty or tax. Because of the issue, there has been no clearance of the computer monitor’s customs duty. From last three months, the computer monitor has been placed in store-room of customs duty office.
The member country of the World Trade Organization has a provision of zero customs duty in computer parts. Following the provisioning technology goods are being imported with a zero customs duty on Nepal. But all of sudden Ministry of Finance ordered to charge customs duty in computer monitors like in televisions.
The confrontation took place after an official of Customs Duty accused that the business persons are importing display board in the name of the computer monitor.
If a customs duty office will impose a tax in a monitor like in television then 20 percent of customs duty along with 10 of percent internal tax will be added in the product, and if 13 percent VAT will be added then 43 percent of tax should be paid for a monitor.
Computer monitors that belong to distributors like Neoteric, Ocean, and Generation Next are left stranded in the store-room of Birgunj Custom Duty Office.
Spokesperson of Birgunj Customs Santosh Yadav said the monitor which supports Set-Top Box would have to pay tax as equal to television.
“The officials of Customs Duty Office are unable to know the differences between television and monitor which is making a great loss in business,” said Suresh Kayastha, an official at Ocean Computers.
Dell- a computer technology company has never manufactured a television till date but also the customs duty office of Birjung is asking for the customs duty on its monitor tagging them as a television, said one of the computer businessmen. Reportedly, a distributor of branded computer imports 80 thousand to 1Lakhs computer monitors annually.
Revenue secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Shishir Dhungana said, “the ministry has already ordered custom duty office to make distinguish between computer monitor and display board. I am very well known about the issue. The customs duty office has already started its work, and very soon everything will be alright”.
