Former Nepal King willing to pay tax; seeks concession

Nepal's ex-King Gyanendra has expressed willingness to pay property tax and dues for his electricity and phone bills like a commoner, but has sought some concession from the government.

Nepal's ex-King Gyanendra, who was ousted more than a year ago through a Parliamentary vote, has expressed willingness to pay property tax and dues for his electricity and phone bills like a commoner, but has sought some concession from the government.

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The ex-monarch's personal secretariat recently wrote to the Ministry of Finance and sought discount in the Value Added
Tax (VAT), income tax, telephone and electricity bills payable by him for his private residential complex 'Nirmal Niwas' in the outskirts of the capital city.

He has dues since May last year when Nepal was declared a republic and monarchy abolished through a vote in the
Constituent Assembly, sources close to Gyanendra said.

The former King has also asked the Ministry to clarify the process of clearing the taxes and other dues to be paid by
him, Finance Minister Surendra Pandey told a select group of journalists on Wednesday.

This is for the first time that the ex-King has shown any interest in paying his dues after he was reduced to an
ordinary citizen.