The government has announced a big waiver on custom tax on the import of sanitary pads and their raw materials.
In the annual budget for the fiscal year 2022-23, the government made the announcement of a tax waiver acting on the demand of activists.
The activists had been demanding the removal of the red tax.
The government has announced a 90 percent waiver on the custom tax being imposed on the import of sanitary pads and one percent on the import of its raw materials.
Some women parliamentarians and advocates welcoming the government's move demanded the removal of some other taxes on sanitary pad imports.
Lawmaker Dr Dila Sangraula said it was a welcoming move to waive a 90 percent customs tax on the import of sanitary pads. "We had drawn government's attention to remove VAT before the budget unveiled", she said, adding that the situation has emerged in a way that domestic entrepreneurs would agitate with the government's policy decision to merely reduce import tax.
All taxes involved in sanitary pads should be completely waived, Dr Sangraula noted.
It may be noted that 14 lawmakers from the Nepali Congress (NC) earlier had drawn the government's attention towards reducing tax on sanitary pads and dry pads.
Another parliamentarian Meenakshi Jha said the government had somehow addressed their demand by slashing import tax on the sanitary pads but it has yet to be addressed in a holistic manner.
"Tax waiver on the sanitary pad is welcoming but our demand is to ensure import of reproductive health-related materials through health ministry and waive its price at par with other health equipment", Jha added.
"The budget has not fully addressed our demand. So we are still effortful to have our demand fully addressed", she further said.
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