More than three dozen brick factories operating in Dhading district have been found evading tax by issuing two types of bill.

Maharup Brick Factory of Nilkantha Municipality has been issuing two separate invoices—one for their customers and one to show government authorities. While the selling price of brick is Rs6 per brick in the official invoice, the factories do not mention price per brick in the invoice issued to the customer.

But the factories were found to be charging Rs13 per brick to customers. In this way, more than fifty percent of their production is not taxed. The two types of invoices issued by the factories are red and blue in colour. The red invoice is kept for official records while the blue coloured invoice is not recorded.

One of the factory operators who claims to sell 2.5 million units of brick annually said all factories in the district issue two types of invoices. “It is a normal practice here,” said the operator who denied to shed more light on the issue. “Every factory in the district is following such practice.”  

Despite the rampant tax evasion, concerned authorities in the district have remained silent over the issue. Operators of brick kilns on the other hand, openly claimed that they are evading taxes. “Our association has directed us to issue two types of invoices,” Badri Koirala, an operator of a brick kiln in the district told the Post.

“In fact issuing multiple invoices is common practice among the brick kilns throughout the country.” Ekraj Gajurel, president of Brick Kiln Association of Dhading also agreed that the factories are using multiple invoices while selling their bricks.

Majority of the brick kilns operating in the Kathmandu Valley moved to Dhading after the government displaced them from the Valley after they were criticized for polluting the environment. Also after the 2015 earthquakes, locals aggressively set up the factories to produce the vital material necessary for reconstruction works.