YADAAV CALLS FOR UNITY AMONGST MADESHIS Kathamandu, 19 Jan.: Senior Vice Chairman of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Democratic) Rameswor Raya Yadav has said Madhesi parties are actively engaged in forging unity among them to materialize the dreams of the martyrs, RSS reports from Siraha. Yadav who was in Lahan to observe the sixth Sacrifice Day of the Madhes movement, at a press meet on Saturday said talks were on and expressed the confidence that unity will be achieved soon. Yadav who has also the responsibility of the party unity said there can be unity as their agenda is same and if unity is not forged, the Madhesh issues will be in the shadows. He said his party was flexible to a large extent, but added they can not forge the unity by taking MJF-Nepal Chairman Upendra Yadav as chairman because he has been already unsuccessful and his leadership will not be acceptable. If unity not forged we can fight election of next CA through a front, he said. Political consensus was lacking because of the anti-federalist forces, he said, adding everyone says NC and CPN-UML are anti federalist, and UCPN-Maoist is also the same in their essence. nnnn GOVT. TO INVESTIGATE POST REVENUE LEAKAGE Kathamandu, 19 Jan . The government is stepping up investigation on post-customs transaction of goods where revenue leakage is found to be very high, Republica reporrs.. The government has long kept such transactions under scanner. But so far no concrete measures have been taken to minimize revenue evasion in the course of trading that takes place once goods leave customs point or place of origin and reach end consumers. "We have credible reports to prove that huge revenue leakages are taking place as goods move on to retail customers from customs points or local production units. That´s why we are beefing up investigation to bring them into tax net," Rajan Khanal, joint secretary at the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance, told Republica on Friday. Khanal, a former director general of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), said the government could increase its revenue significantly in the form of VAT, excise duty and income tax if such transactions are made transparent. The government decided to beef up investigation in this regard after reports showed huge difference in prices declared at customs points and retail level. However, these price gaps were not making significant contribution to revenue collection. During the first five months of the current fiscal year, the government´s revenue collection reached Rs 97.34 billion, up from Rs 77.70 billion in the same period last year. Khanal also said the government is coming up with stringent measures to increase collection of rent tax, VAT from those outside of the revenue net, like brick industries, and income tax from different professionals such as lawyers and doctors. "It is not only importers, but significant number of manufacturing units, such as brick kilns, are left out of the tax net. So we are planning to expand the revenue source by incorporating such firms," added Khanal. The government had mobilized revenue of Rs 244.14 billion last fiscal year, up 22.2 percent than in the previous year. VAT, Income tax and customs duty generated Rs 71.97 billion, Rs 52.55 billion and Rs 43.41 billion, respectively, in the year. DRI hands over cases to IRD The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has handed over revenue evasion cases related to various firms to the IRD, recommending recovery of Rs 4 million. Around three months ago, a team from the DRI had raided Pooja Pulses Mill, Kohinoor Agro Industries and Amrit Pulses Industries. Their warehouses and head offices were also raided at that time, during which they were found to be evading income taxes by not keeping actual record of transactions. Nnnn