KATHMANDU, SEP 05 -
The jungle of hoarding boards in Kathmandu may be an eyesore to city dwellers, but they are one of the major sources of revenue for Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC). According to KMC statistics, taxes on billboards are the fifth largest source of revenue for the city.

KMC collected Rs. 14.31 million in taxes on hoardings in the fiscal year 2009/10. In fiscal 2008/09, the city took in Rs. 14.18 million.

Of KMC’s total revenue amounting to Rs. 788.86 million in fiscal 2009/10, hoardings accounted for around 3.5 percent. There are about 600 billboards in the capital.

KMC has targeted collecting Rs. 22.5 million in taxes on billboards in 2010/11. The contribution of hoarding boards featuring alcohol and tobacco comes to around 35 percent of the total revenue, said Nur Nidhi Neupane, head of the revenue department at KMC. 

KMC’s income from billboards is likely to decrease as it has removed those advertising alcohol and

tobacco. The Supreme Court had instructed KMC to take down

hoardings promoting tobacco and alcohol a few months ago. “The ban will definitely hit revenue collection,” said Neupane.

KMC currently imposes a tax on billboards at the rate of Rs. 50 per sq ft. The charge for foreign advertisements is Rs. 62.50 per sq ft. The charge for hoardings featuring alcohol and tobacco was Rs. 100 per sq ft.

Posted on: 2010-09-06 07:58

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