Revenue collection is mandatory for the operation of the state. For that, the state takes the help of various taxes, fees and fines. The more revenue the state can collect, the greater its economic capacity. The capacity to develop and provide services to the citizens is also greater. Therefore, it is the duty of the citizen to pay various types of taxes and fees. But this mandatory work is guided by the short-term and long-term strategies of the state. The state decides which sectors to promote and which to reduce and sets different tax rates for different sectors. However, in the budget presented by Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle on 15 Jestha, there is a contradiction between the policies and tax rate changes being taken by the state. The government should be aware of the side effects of tax policies.

In the budget, it is said that the government will impose a parity fee of three percent on all types of fees charged by private sector-run educational institutions from students and on all types of service fees charged by private sector-run health service providers from patients. As a direct result of this, the fees of private educational institutions and private health institutions will now increase. If the state does not develop a strong monitoring and regulatory system, it can increase it by more than three percent. The fee rate is just one issue, the main issue is the contradiction between the policy set by the state through the constitution and the path it is currently trying to follow.

If electricity consumption could be increased, domestic production would be used and a large amount spent on petroleum products and gas imports would stay within the country. Due to the poor quality of community schools and the problem of not getting a turn at government health institutions or not getting a turn at the right time, many are forced to take services from private institutions. Therefore, a large part of the income of citizens is being spent on education and health. The government should have given priority to improving the quality of community or government institutions that provide education and health services, a system to streamline service delivery, and creating a user-friendly environment. Although government and community institutions are excellent in all respects, adopting a policy that increases the financial burden on service recipients who voluntarily go to private institutions would not have made much difference. However, it is not the character of a welfare state to take no concrete initiative to improve the quality of public education and health services but to use the compulsion of all classes to take services from private institutions as an opportunity to collect fees. This will add additional financial burden to the citizens. This issue is not a journey towards fulfilling the constitutional right to make education up to primary level compulsory and free and education up to secondary level free.

Similarly, the budget has imposed a five percent tax on electricity, saying that a study will be made on the multiple rates of value-added tax. Similarly, the prices of most electric vehicles have also been increased. This has shown the government's unstable mindset in an area where stable policies should be taken and encouraged. Such provisions are contrary to the previous advocacy and policy taken to encourage the consumption of electricity and electrical goods. Because, huge expenses are being spent on importing petroleum products and gas and its health and environmental side effects are also there.

If electricity consumption could be increased, domestic production would be used and a large amount spent on petroleum products and gas imports would stay within the country. That is why our per capita electricity consumption is low. However, the use of electricity is increasing, and a country with immense potential for electricity generation should have adopted a policy to increase per capita consumption. In addition to cooking, heating water, running fans or heaters, running pumps, charging electric vehicles for private use, and connecting the general public to their income through electric rickshaws, the use of electricity is increasing for many purposes. However, the government's five percent VAT policy will hinder the increasing rate of consumption. Not only will a family have to pay a relatively higher fee for electricity bills, but the inflation created as a result of the tax increase will directly and indirectly extend to many sectors. The impact of which will be felt by consumers in the coming days.

Currently, there is a single rate of 13 percent and a zero rate on taxable goods and services, but the government has adopted a policy of imposing zero percent, 5 percent, and 13 percent VAT from July 1. The practice of multi-rate has been started by imposing 5 percent VAT on electricity and ride-sharing, but the government has not been able to clearly say that multi-rate has started. The budget speech states, 'We will form a high-level advisory committee to study the relevance of multiple rates in VAT and submit suggestions.' This has created a contradiction. The main issue in this context is whether a country with a weak administrative structure like ours can manage multiple rates or not. Because, there is still a problem of leakage in the revenue collection center. There has been a call for increasing the use of technology to manage it.

But no strong initiative has been taken in that direction. By adopting multiple rates, only a low rate of tax can be applied to some essential items and convenience can also be provided to the citizens. However, in practice, this is complicated. Due to the lack of citizen awareness towards taxes and the possibility of misdeclaration of goods due to administrative weaknesses or collusion, a single rate is considered practical. Instead, the tax scope could have been increased by maintaining the single rate and increasing the use of technology. Or, if it was found practical after the study, multiple rates could have been implemented.