The Birgunj Customs Office, which collects the highest revenue in the country, has exceeded Rs 10 billion in unpaid taxes. The office has stated that the amount of unpaid taxes has been increasing as the amount to be recovered in various cases related to import-export transactions has not been cleared for years. According to Krishna Prasad Mainali, Chief Customs Administrator of Birgunj Customs Office, the problem is becoming more complicated when importers and exporters release goods on the basis of bank guarantees without completing the necessary documents and evidence, but later do not come for unpaid taxes. ‘Some consignments do not have the correct classification of goods, some do not have the necessary documents attached,’ Mainali said. ‘In such cases, the transaction is completed by placing a bank guarantee. But later, the concerned businessmen do not come to clear the unpaid taxes.’ According to him, such a problem is especially seen in transactions related to vehicle imports. He said that there is a difference between the declaration submitted by the importer and the vehicles actually imported. "There have been cases where vehicles declared as having a diesel engine are actually petrol engines, vehicles described as small are actually large, and vehicles described as having a low seating capacity are actually high," he said.

He said that the amount remains uncollected after the revenue assessment and recovery process is not completed in such cases. Every year, the Office of the Auditor General also points out such cases as uncollected, and the amount of uncollected tax is increasing, according to Mainali.

He said that some businessmen are reluctant to submit the details and amounts demanded by the customs and the disputes reach the court. "Despite repeated requests for uncollected tax, there is a tendency to refuse," he said. "Some cases reach the court and after the businessmen win from there, the recovery process becomes more complicated."