Customs Offices to Suspend Goods Clearance on Budget Day

Kathmandu. On the day the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84 is to be presented (Friday, Jestha 15), customs clearance work will be suspended at customs offices across the country. The Customs Department has issued a circular directing all subordinate customs offices to stop the clearance of commercial goods, except for passenger clearance, on Friday.

The department has issued such a circular because tax rates will be adjusted on the day the Finance Minister presents the annual income and expenditure statement (budget) in the Federal Parliament.

According to the department, declarations registered by today, Jestha 14, must be cleared by the end of the same day. If declarations registered by Thursday are still pending clearance, the new tax rates set by the new budget (Finance Bill 2083) will apply to those goods.

The department has directed that customs clearance should only resume on Saturday, Jestha 16, after confirming that the changes made through the Finance Bill 2083 have been updated in the customs ASYCUDA system.

For goods whose declarations were registered on or before Jestha 14 but are still pending clearance, the department's circular states that customs clearance should proceed only after collecting customs duties according to the new rates if the new budget has changed the duty rates.

Customs clearance is halted on the budget day to adjust the system according to the new provisions, as the government changes customs duties, excise duties, and other tax rates during the budget speech. 

However, it is mentioned that there will be no obstruction to the movement of passengers and their personal clearance at airports and border crossings.