KATHMANDU: Lawmakers has criticized announcement made by the government to raise tax in electric vehicles through the budget.
Speaking at the parliamentary discussion on budget, lawmaker and former finance minister Bishnu Poudel said that the government is trying to discourage the use of electric vehicles by increasing tax on its import.
Though we have a tradition of arranging excise duty on things like alcohol and cigarettes, it is unfortunate to know that the government has started to impose excise duty on electric vehicle imports.
As per the announcement, the customs charge stays the same for EVs up to 100 kW but for those with higher specs, the tax has increased.
As per the new tax scheme, EVs of 100 kW to 200 kW has been slapped with a 30 percent excise duty. Likewise, the customs charge has also been fixed at 30 percent on such EVs. Similarly, EVs running on 200 kW to below 300 kW will pay 60 percent excise duty of their total cost.