Arthabichar Nepal - Guide to Entrepreneurs, Startups, and Business Enthusiast

USAID, United States Agency for International Development, operates in most of the countries under the bilateral agreement similar to Nepal. Ministry of Finance represents Government of Nepal as a counterpart on these agreements with USAID. Based on those agreements, projects/programs are generally managed as 1) Contract 2) Co-operative Agreement, and 3) Grant. Irrespective of nature of the project/program, one of the main clause of the bilateral agreement is tax exemption status. Tax exemption status grants USAID projects access to  Value Added Tax (VAT), Customs Duty, and Excise Duty refund on the tax paid by them on purchases or imports made for the project. USAID projects here are International NGO, national NGO, companies, and firms managing projects/programs for USAID under the contractual arrangement. Let us now focus our attention on the Value Added Tax and how does it work for USAID Funded Projects. There is three status to be considered here: 1) An entity i...

Entrepreneurship is the talk of the town all over the world and Nepal is not an exception. Every week there is some kind of capacity development happening around Kathmandu valley helping youth turn their ideas into reality. These events are really helpful in providing a launchpad for newbies enthusiast about the startup. However, the question remains, how many of us are actually aware of the entrepreneurial strategy? According to Peter F. Drucker, there are four entrepreneurial strategies which are not mutually exclusive but sometimes can be used together. We have tried to present a quick snapshot of such strategies below: 1) Being "Fustest with the Mostest": This is a strategy where you either hit a target or miss it altogether. It requires an ambitious aim; otherwise, it is bound to fail. Your aim should be to create a new industry or a new market although you are not aiming to create a big business right away. It always starts with a permanent leadership position...

Did you know Kageshwari Manohara Municipality have announced a waiver of 10% tax? As per the public notice published in its website  on 2075/05/12, Municipality is waiving 10% tax on the following taxes that the municipality collects from its residents: 1) Property Tax (Land and Building) / सम्पत्ति कर (घर जग्गा कर) 2) Land Tax (Malpot) / मालपोत 3) Rental Tax / बहाल कर 4) Business Tax / व्यवसाय कर 5) Scrap Material Tax / कवाडी माल कर, and 6) Medicinal Herbs Tax / जडीबुटी कर According to the notice, residents of Kageshwari Manohara Municipality can benefit from this waiver by depositing the necessary tax by end of Ashoj / Ashwin 2075 in the respect Ward offices. And, this valid for Fiscal Year  2075/76 . So, hurry up..enjoy the benefit and be part of Nepal Government's slogan:  कर तिरौं , राष्ट्र निर्माणमा सहभागी  बनौं

Needless of the size and nature of business, bookkeeping is important function for every organization. Volume and complexity of transaction might differ but information required for business decisions are prepare based on those bookkeeping records. We all know “Garbage In, Garbage Out” and this is true in accounting as well. Despite sounding so simple, Nepalese SME’s are still struggling to have proper bookkeeping function. So, what might be a bottleneck? I have tried my best to highlight some of the most prominent and commonly heard bottlenecks for SMEs, urging for immediate attention from the policy makers, regulatory bodies, professional accountants, and SMEs. #Bottle Neck 1: Intermingle of business and personal transactions Most of the SMEs fail to segregate between business and personal transaction making it difficult for them to understand real business-related income and expenditure. Things do not end there; those having multiple businesses fail to keep separate book...

How many of us know the Audit Act, 2048 will soon be repealed and hopefully, we will have a new Audit Act, 2075 soon. Honorable Finance Minister Yubaraj Khaitwada has filed the ordinance in House of Representative on 2075/03/14. It has already been tabled and gone through two rounds of discussion, the last one being 2075/04/21. New Act addresses the change in the structure of the Office of Auditor's General given the fact that Nepal is now a Federal state. It has clearly determined the scope of work for the Office of Auditor's General (OAG). All the offices of Government of Nepal including Central Government, Provincial Government, Metropolitan City, Municipality, and Rural Municipality, Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Nepal Armed Force. Act also makes OAG responsible for the audit of the government-controlled entity, where Government of Nepal has more than 50% ownership. It also provides authority for the audit of donor-funded projects within Government of Nepal and entities ...

Human resource management (HRM) is a function in organizations designed to maximize employee performance in service of their employers’ strategic objectives. HRM is primarily concerned with how people are managed within organizations, focusing on policies and systems. It includes the process to recruit, maintain, and develop employees. Effective HRM practices not only help organization achieve its goal but also help employees find meaningful work with avenues for career development. Peter Senge in his book titled The Fifth Discipline has written that the success of any organization depends on its learning spirit. He terms organizations that continually seek to expand their capacity to create their future as learning organizations.  He has emphasized that it is only through individual learning that organizational learning occurs. According to him, the feature of the learning organization are a) where people continually expand their capacity to create results they truly desire, ...

When we talk about the Indirect Cost Rate for the project, flat 10% on the overall cost comes to our mind. Most of us believe that it is the profit for the organization for implementing the project and do not have to show how the amount is expended or utilized. We take it for granted. But it is the misconception that we have. By definition, Indirect Cost is incurred for common or joint objectives and cannot be readily identified with a particular grant, contract or any other activity of the organization. A question arises, how these costs are determined? Normally, the organization establishes the provisional indirect cost rate at the beginning of the Fiscal Year, with due consideration to the organization's overall cost structure and expenditure projection. An Indirect Cost Rate is: a device for determining fairly and conveniently, within the boundaries of sound administrative cost principles, what proportion of indirect cost each one of the entity programs or funding so...

Nepal Government has officially enabled the online payment of taxes levied by Inland Revenue Department per the decision of 2074/11/11. E-Payment (Online) Payment of taxes services is available to only those: a) who have availed Self Verification Service from Tax Payer's Office, thus, have username and password to log on to IRD  Tax Payer's Portal b) who have linked their company's bank account with Connect IPS , online payment service provider recognized by Nepal Government and managed by Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL) and thus, have a username and password. Those who do not have their bank account linked can easily do so by following the process below: Open www.connectips.com Create your Account ( Mobile No., Email id and Date of Birth is Mandatory for verification) Note Username and Password just entered while creating your account You will receive a verification code on your mobile and email, please input that get your account verified.  Now, to link ...

Audit Committee is a very important function in any entity, especially from the governance perspective. It is proven that audit committee lead to strengthened financial discipline in an entity improving accountability, systematic efficiency, and transparency. Nepalese Company Act has made it mandatory for following companies to have an audit committee companies with authorized capital above NPR 30 million, or companies wholly or partially owned by Government of Nepal Following is the extract of the provision from Nepalese Company Act, 2063 (First Amendment, 2074): Must consist of at least three-member under the chairpersonship of the director not involved in the day to day management. At least one member shall be an expert having a professional certificate on accounting or seasoned person with at least a bachelor's degree in accounts, commerce, management, finance or economics. Member shall not be a close relative of the Chief Executive Officer. ...

A tax clearance certificate confirms that an individual or entity: is in compliance with the Nepalese Income Tax Act, 2058 and its regulations, has submitted the tax return, audit report and necessary schedules, and all the taxes have been duly paid to the Government of Nepal Who issues Tax Clearance Certificate? The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is authorized to obtain tax clearance certificate on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal. How do I apply? An application must be filed at the concerned Tax Payer's office with NRs 10 stamp with the following documents enclosed: 1) Entity: Copy of the payment of taxes per Self Assessment submitted to IRD. Copy of the Audit Report duly audited by the member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). Copy of the Previous Year Income Tax Return and Copy of Tax Clearance Certificate Obtained if any. Copy of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) Certificate. 2) Individual: In the c...