Kathmandu, Nov 8: Major foreign tech companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and Netflix, have begun paying digital service tax (DST) on transactions in Nepal.

Dhruba Prasad Pande, Chief Tax Officer and Information Officer at the Big Taxpayers Office, confirmed that 20 international IT firms have registered to pay the 2% DST on their digital transactions within Nepal. This tax was introduced in the Financial Act of 2079/20 as Nepal’s first DST measure, though implementation has seen delays since its launch two years ago.

Among the registered big taxpayers are Google Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd, Google Ireland Ltd, Google Digital Ink, LinkedIn Singapore Pvt Ltd, NCS Pearson Inc., Amazon.com Services LLC, Amazon Wave Services Inc., EBSCO International Inc., Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, Microsoft Regional Sales Pvt Ltd, Adobe Systems Software Ireland Ltd, Netflix Pvt Ltd, Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd, Prometric Japan Company Ltd, ACCA, Pearson Education Ltd, Apple Distribution International Ltd, and Apple Services Pvt Ltd.

TikTok, which recently had a 9-month ban lifted, is also paying DST. Google Asia Pacific Pvt Ltd, the parent company of the world’s largest search engine, has registered in Nepal, alongside other major social platforms such as Meta (which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram), TikTok, and LinkedIn.

The registration of these international tech companies is expected to generate significant revenue for Nepal. However, there remain several tech companies operating without DST registration in Nepal. The current Financial Act mandates a 2% DST on total transactions but lacks clear guidance on how to tax digital service providers not covered under the big taxpayer classification.