Kathmandu: The government’s taxpayer incentive lottery program has been thrown into uncertainty following the devastating Bhotekoshi disaster and the country’s difficult circumstances.
The government has been conducting the Taxpayer Incentive Gift Program every 15 days under the Taxpayer Incentive Gift Program Operating Procedure, 2083. The initiative was introduced to encourage consumers to demand bills and promote a culture of issuing and receiving invoices during the purchase and sale of goods and services.
In the month of Shrawan alone, the government conducted the lottery twice. Two winners received prizes of Rs 1 million each, while 30 others won Rs 133,334 each.
After a 25 percent windfall tax deduction, the 30 winners received Rs 100,000 each. Similarly, the bumper prize was set at Rs 1 million, with two winners receiving Rs 750,000 each after the 25 percent tax deduction.
However, the lottery scheduled to be conducted today has now become uncertain due to the severe disaster affecting the country.
Keshav Raghuvanshi, spokesperson for the Inland Revenue Department, said no official information had been received regarding whether today’s lottery would be conducted or postponed.
He said the department had not yet received instructions on what action should be taken.
Meanwhile, Amrit Lamsal, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, said he was also unaware of any decision regarding the program. According to him, the ministry had not received any ministerial-level information about suspending the lottery.
Raghuvanshi said that, given the scale of the disaster currently affecting the country, he personally believes the program should be suspended for some time. However, he stressed that the authority to make such a decision rests with Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and the Ministry of Finance.
The final decision on whether to conduct or postpone the lottery is therefore expected from the Finance Ministry.
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