The National Council in its deliberation of the Penal Code Amendment Bill on 17th and 20th January saw an interesting proposal from the NC Legislative Committee on the age of consent. The proposal is to prevent the criminalizing young boys who may have had sex with a girl between 16 …

There were shockwaves through the LGBTIQ community in Bhutan last month when the National Council Legislative Committee recommended to not repeal section 213 and 214 that criminalized homosexuality. The main issue for NC was that removal of section 213 on Unnatural Sex and its penalty in section 214 may end …

Association of Bhutanese Industries submits a letter to the Parliament and the Govt on concerns over GST The Bhutan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) has forwarded a letter from the Association of Bhutanese Industries (ABI) listing out concerns on how the uniform 7 percent GST tax can impact local …

Only violation proposed for domestic fronting involving two Bhutanese parties The last session of the National Assembly saw a lot of debate around the introduction of a new section in the Penal Code Amendment Bill that criminalized fronting as a fourth degree felony apart from the cancellation of license and …

If there are two contrasting projects in Bhutan, then it is the 1,200 MW Punatsangchu I project hugely exceeding all time and budget limits, while the 720 MW Mangdechu has largely been built within budget and time and is already generating revenue. The outgoing Mangdechu Project MD, A.K Mishra in …

In a bid to reduce imports and promote local products, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) has come up with an Import Substitution Report that looks at supporting viable local products that can contribute to import substitution. “The import substitution report will be a guiding document for the private sector …

Also shares concerns on planning and coordination issues The Prime Minister in an interaction with the private media on 8th January made it clear that his government is committed to long term goals and moves during its tenure, even if it leads to the loss of office in 2023. This …

The Finance Minister Lyonpo Namgay Tshering said there there are two ‘beautiful things’ within the Property Tax Bill of Bhutan 2020. The first being the obvious part where the current property transfer tax for land or building has been reduced from five percent to three percent. Also, the vehicle transfer …

The Prime Minister, Dr Lotay Tshering in a recent interaction with the private media opened up on any array of issues including on the difficulties and strains of the Prime Minister’s post. The statement was in the context of the Prime Minister talking of doing away with the Five-year plan …

Mobiles to be around 30% cheaper and hybrid vehicles vehicles to have 50% less tax The Tax (Amendment) Act 2020 of Bhutan saw the controversial five percent voucher tax being removed and there was much appreciation from the public. However, the government will be taking a large annual revenue hit …