The Swedish company Teliasonera in its recent announcement  has made it  clear  that it is not liable to pay capital gains tax (CGT) for the transfer of its stake in Ncell to Malaysian telecom giant Axiata. On April 12 Axiata had bought Reynolds Holding, the owner of Ncell, from TeliaSonera at an enterprise value of $1.03 billion. The Malaysian company had also acquired 80 percent stake in Ncell. TeliaSonera Norway had 100 percent stake in Reynolds Holding which owns 80 percent stake in Ncell. Neeraj Gobinda Shrestha, the local partner, has already paid Rs2.83 billion in CGT for the sale of 20 percent of the shares to Sunivera Capital Venture.
According to tax officials, if CGT is imposed, 25 percent of the deal’s profit should go to the state coffers. Nepal Tax officials have been claiming  that Nepal has every right to impose tax under the Income Tax Act which amounts to  NRs 40 Billion which is pending from the Teliasonera.
