Ministry Of Finance, BHUTAN

The Department of National Properties, Ministry of Finance announces the sale of vehicles, machineries, equipments, structures for dismantling and scraps through public auction at DNP auction. ( for more details refer Notice Board, Tender Notice).

PPD & HRD office shifted (2009-Sep-08)

The office of the Policy and Planning Division is now shifted at the MoF Secretariat in the Dzong and the Human Resource Division to the former PPD office (outside Tashichhodzong).

Tax receipts on the up and up (2009-Sep-02)

Voluntary declaration scheme nets an additional Nu 1.25 million

20 August, 2009 - Bhutanese taxpayers paid Nu 222 million as personal income tax (PIT) for the 2008 income year, increasing the PIT collection by almost 14 percent or Nu 27m from the previous year.

About 26,365 taxpayers across the country had filed their PIT, said officials of revenue and customs department.

For the 2007 income year, about 23,901 had filed PIT and the contribution was Nu 195m. The increase in PIT collection was because of the increase in PIT filers and salary revision for some civil servants and corporations, according to officials.

Tax officials, however, said that, besides the significant increase in the contribution amount, government had a major success with the one-time ‘voluntary declaration scheme’ for PIT from May 1 to June 30 this year.

The scheme allowed taxpayers, who had never filed their PIT since the introduction of the tax in 2002, to file tax without having to pay penalty, said revenue and customs director, Choyzang Tashi.

“We knew that there were people, who hadn’t filed their PIT even once. We wanted to encourage people, who were unaware or ignorant, and also those, who were aware but hesitant to file their PIT because of fines and penalties,” he said.

He said that 318 people filed their PIT under the special scheme in various dzongkhags and the government collected additional revenue of Nu 1.25m. “It was purely a voluntary declaration on almost zero cost to the government,” said Choyzang Tashi. “It’s an achievement for the department because we’ve more people in the tax bracket with the special scheme.”

PIT is calculated on six sources of income: salary, rental income, dividends, interest from fixed deposits, cash crop and income from other sources.

The director also said that there would still be a section of people, who would not declare their taxes even after providing the grace period.

Taxpayers will be taxed 100 percent on the gross income and a 24 percent interest as penalty on actual tax amount for late payment of tax.

Tax evaders will be imposed a penalty of twice the tax amount sought to be evaded.

Corporate income tax (CIT) for the 2008 income year also increased by almost 47 percent over the previous year’s collection. The CIT collection was Nu 2,695m, up from Nu 1,827m in 2007.

The increase is attributed to improved performance by government corporations, say revenue and customs officials. CIT payers also grew from 112 for the 2007 income year to 119 in 2008.

The Business income tax (BIT) collection was about Nu 182.9m as of August 2009. Officials said that the actual amount would be known after they complete assessing all businesses. About 15,906 businesses have filed their BIT.

Source: http://www.kuenselonline.com/

2009-2010 National Budget Report (2009-Aug-21)

>> National Budget Report for the Fiscal Year 2009-2010 (2009-Aug-14)

Rules (2009-Aug-14)

>> Regulations Relating to the possession of Assets and Properties outside Bhutan by Bhutanese Citizens (2010-Feb-26)

Establishment of a Tax Appeal Board (2010-Feb-26)

As per the General Provisions of the Income Tax Act (Section 46.3) and the Sales Tax, Customs, Excise Act (21.3) of the Kingdom of the Bhutan, a Tax Appeal Board has been established with members from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Bhutan Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Finance and One ad hoc member as an expert. The Board was established on 10th February 2009. The Board shall deal with all appeals directly made to it by the appellant (tax payer). However, all appellants should appeal to the Board only after exhaustion of the two lower tiers of the appeal process as per the Acts mentioned above. The Tax Appeal Board shall be facilitated by the Rules Section, Ministry of Finance as the Secretariat and any appeals should be directly addressed to the following address: The Chairman Tax Appeal Board, C/O Legal Officer, Rules Section, Ministry of Finance, Tashichhodzong, Thimphu.

Appointment of the New Finance Secretary ()

The former Planning Secretary, Mr. Lam Dorji has been appointed as the new Finance Secretary. Former Secretary, Dasho Yanki T Wangchuk handed over charges to the new Secretary on 19th March 2008. Mr. Lam Dorji worked as Director, Department of Budget and Accounts for seven years (1997-2003) before his transfer to the Planning Commission Secretariat till 2007.

Resignation of the Finance Secretary ()

Dasho Yanki T. Wangchuk, Finance Secretary has resigned on 31st March 2008. She joined the Ministry of Finance as Joint Secretary in 1997 and Director General, Department of Aid and Debt Management in 2000. She was appointed as the Finance Secretary in 2003 and conferred red scarf by His Majesty the Forth Druk Gyalpo in 2006. Prior to the Ministry of Finance, she worked as the Dy. Auditor General, Royal Audit Authority.

His Majesty the King conferred red scarf and the title of Dasho to the Finance Secretary ()

2006, December 07: His Majesty the King conferred red scarf and the title of Dasho to the Finance Secretary, Dasho Yanki T. Wangchuk. Dasho Yanki T. Wangchuk is from Jamtoey Goenba, Haa. She was appointed as Finance Secretary in 2004. She joined service in 1976 as a trainee officer in the department of Development. Over a career spanning more than three decades, she served in various capacities. Prior to the appointment as Finance Secretary Dasho Yanki T.Wanggchuk served as the director general of the Department of Aid and Debt Management. She has also served as joint secretary in the ministry of finance. Dasho Yanki T. Wangchuk specialized in auditing and financial management from India.

Appointment of Directors (March 09, 2006) ()

The Department of Budget and Accounts has been bifurcated into two Departments viz: i. Department of National Budget and ii. Department of Public Accounts as per an executive order issued by the government on 29th december, 2005. Subsequently the RCSC has appointed Mr. Lham Nidup, Chief Budget Officer as the Director of the Department of National Budget and Mr. Karma Tshiteem, Deputy Secretary, PPD, Ministry of Finance as the Director of the Department of Public Accounts.

e Release System (December 29, 2005) ()

Hon'ble Finance Secretary Aum Yanki T.Wangchuk released the eRelease system at the Department of Budget Conference Hall on 29th December 2005. eRelease systmem is a step ahead towards enterprise environment in the Department of Budget and Accounts, Ministry of Finance. Initial phase of the system is implemented in Thimphu , but in the later phase the service will be extended to other parts of the country. Advantages: Improves the efficiency of the Releases process by eliminating misplacement of the Releases letter, Manual process is reduced, in time reaching the Releases to the concerned agencies and to the concerned bank ( Bank of Bhutan), The process in the department has increased with the concept of the e-Releases. Softwares used: The eRelease system is developed using Visual Basic, Crystal Reports as front end. Microsoft SQL Server as back end database. The transfer of the Releases letter will be send through Outlook Mail Soft. The Release letter will be sent in Acrobat reader format.

Planning Commission reconstituted (16 December 2005) ()

As per the decision passed by the 84th National Assembly the Department of Planning has now been separated from the Ministry of Finance. The reconstituted Planning Commission will now be chaired by the Prime Minister. Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup took over the chairmanship from the Finance Minister Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu in Thimphu Thursday December 15. The Department of Planning was transferred under the Ministry of Finance in the year 2003. The Hon'ble Finance Minister Lyonpo Wangdi Norbu highlighted some of the major activities carried out in the past two years. These included the compilation of progress report for the 1st year of the current five-year plan. The report was submitted to the cabinet in March last year.

The World Bank and the IMF Annual General Meeting (24-25 September 2005) ()

The Hon'ble Finance Minister Wangdi Norbu will be attending the Annual General Meeting of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund Washington, D.C from September 24-25 2005 accompanied by the Managing Director, Royal Monetary Authority and Officiating Director, Department of Budget and Accounts, Ministry of Finance. The first Annual Meetings were held in Washington in 1946.At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions. The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the Bank and the Fund, with the chairmanship rotating among the membership each year. Every two years it elects Executive Directors. Each year any new members are welcomed into the Bank and Fund.

Regional Ministerial Meeting ()

Hon'ble Finance Minister Wangdi Norbu participated in the 'Regional Ministerial meeting on MDGs in Asia and the Pacific: The way forward 2015'. It was held in Jakarta to form a common strategy to implement MDGs by 2015 and speak on the theme of "Challenges of the Region in achieving MDGs". The meeting, hosted by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia was organized in collaboration with the United Nations Special Ambassador for MDGs in Asia and the Pacific and several other UN agencies. Representatives of Governments of the Asian and Pacific countries as well as civil society organizations partcipated.