Rupandehi’s Siddhart­hanagar municipality has been accused of impos­ing ‘unscientific taxes’. It is indeed curious that the retail vegetable sellers are being charged more than estab­lished businesses

 

.The municipality has recently set a new tax rate for the current fiscal. According to the new list, the munici­pality will charge Rs 7.65 daily (Rs 2,800 a year) from food wholesalers. In comparison, vegetable sellers in the local farmers’ market have to pay Rs 37 daily. As the farmers’ market is held twice a week, their total yearly tax outlay comes to Rs 3,640. But other industries and businesses which earn profits in lakhs are having to fork out much less.

 

In most areas of the municipality, tax rates have increased, by as much as 900 percent. While the taxes imposed on Lumbini Rana Ambika Eye Hospital of ward number 3 has not increased, the municipality has increased taxes on a private medical col­lege by a whopping 900 per­cent. The medical college had to pay Rs 5,000 last year; this year, it pays Rs 50,000.

 

Similarly, wholesale cloth­ing stores that had to pay Rs 1,000 last year will now have to pay Rs 5,000, an increase of 400 percent. Likewise, last year, the retail clothing stores had to pay Rs 600. After taxes levied on them increased by 317 percent, they now will have to pay Rs 2,500.

 

Those who sell vegetables in baskets at the farmers’ mar­ket will now have to pay Rs 30, compared to Rs 25 earlier. For other vegetable sellers the levy has gone up from Rs 30 to Rs 35. Sellers in farmers’ mar­ket rue that even though the taxes have increased, there has been no improvement in the facilities provided by the municipality to improve the market.

 

Abadh Bihari, who sells veg­etables, complains that high taxes have created problems for him. He says he is paying as much as Rs 120 in daily taxes, even though the municipality claims it is collecting only Rs 35 a day from such sellers.

 

Ramu Kandu has a similar story. For his daily quota of 15 kilos of garlic he has to pay Rs 100 in taxes. “I do not even earn a profit of Rs 100!” he complains.

 

The increased municipal taxes have been met with growing protests, being orga­nized by big and small busi­nesses alike. The main Rupan­dehi trade body has even sent a memorandum to the mayor of the municipality. Organiza­tion chairman Narayan Prasad Bhandari expressed his ire at the increase of taxes for small businessmen by 400-500 per­cent. He said the municipality had ignored their suggestion to limit tax increase to 20-25 percent. The businessmen have warned that they would have to start an anti-tax move­ment if adjustments are not made soon.