Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in the country want the Civil Society Organization Amendment Bill 2021 to make the registration process conducive for their growth. They raised the concern during the second CSO-Government meeting held on 10th November in Thimphu. The current act has a complex registration process and unclear clauses on tax exemptions.
Registering a CSO today requires the submission of many documents such as income and assets of the person, his or her family, dependents (children), and bio-data among others. This, they said, is a lot of hassle to go through.
According to the Executive Director of Bhutan Media Foundation, Needrup Zangpo, they want the parliamentarians to make the act more facilitative and less regulatory. “We are requesting the parliamentarians to make the process of CSO registration simpler and have more CSO memberships on Authority Board so that there is equal representation of government and CSOs.”
Similarly, they also call for the need for clarity on tax exemptions. While the section on tax exemption for CSOs states that tax would be exempted case by case, the Executive Director of Bhutan Toilet Organisation, Chaplop Passang Tshering, said it creates a lot of ambiguity. “It let the Department of Revenue and Customs understand what sort of activities requires tax exemption, but it leaves a form of ambiguity as to which all things get tax exemption.”
To this effect, CSOs have submitted a list of recommendations to the CSO Authority.
“We see problems in rules and regulations. We need to change around 16 clauses,” said Tashi Namgay, CSO’s Co-Coordinating Committee member.
The National Assembly will deliberate on the Civil Society Organisations Amendment bill 2021 in the upcoming session of the parliament.
Today, there are 54 functional CSOs in the country.
Sangay Chezom
Edited by Chayku
