NST Owes Second Biggest Unpaid Capital Gains Tax to Nepal Government

NST (Nepal Satellite Telecom) is a telecom company owned by Ajeya Raj Sumargi. According to the OAG 54th annual report (Fiscal year 2015/16), it hasn’t cleared capital gains tax for transactions carried out some years ago. It has directed the Inland Revenue Office to take care of the matter but the Office has not calculated the total cost the company needs to pay.

According to the OAG(Office of The Auditor General), it is the second biggest unpaid CGT recorded in Nepal after that of Ncell’s.

NST was established around 10 years ago when current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara was the Minister of Information and Communications. Since then, it has been providing telecom services in 15 districts of mid-western Nepal.

Fifty per cent of the company shares belongs to Airbell Services Limited of Cyprus. Sumargi’s Muktishree Telecom Pvt Ltd had 40 per cent, Sumargi’s wife Samjhana Aryal had five per cent, Pakistan’s Mobile Telecommunication Limited three per cent and Bangladesh’s Sewa Telecom two per cent.

However, in 2011 the share structure was changed. Airbell sold 51 per cent of its shares to Sweden-based TeliaSonera.

OAG records show that the company owes Rs 1.409 billion CGT to the government for these two share transactions. And this tax amount is increased by a default 25 per cent every year.