Govt to tax social networks including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter from mid-July

KATHMANDU: Popular social networks and over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram will now come under the tax net of the government.

Though it had been discussed since many years, the government has finally brought these networks under tax net through the budget of the coming Fiscal Year 2079/80. This is the first time that the government has included such services in the legal jurisdiction in the process of expanding the tax network.

Following this, if any such network generates income through economic activities within Nepal, they will have to pay two percent of their transaction value as tax to the government.

“Arrangements have been made to bring such businesses under the tax net in the context of increasing economic activities within Nepal using electronic networks,” said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma while presenting the budget in Parliament on Sunday.

Director General of the Inland Revenue Department, Ritesh Shakya, informed that more than three billion rupees is being transacted annually in Nepal through this kind of network.