The finance ministry is tightening import regulations to stop people from misusing the country’s tax-free smartphone status and to prevent potential deflection of imports due to tax discrepancies with neighbouring countries. Measures include enhanced import monitoring, ensuring regulatory compliance, tracking foreign exchange use, and conducting import audits.
Finance Minister Lekey Dorji shared this at the Meet the Press session earlier today. The minister added that the finance ministry, in coordination with stakeholders, is finalising regulatory actions against non-compliant importers, including legal measures for fraud. The Department of Revenue and Customs is leading this effort. Last year, Bhutan imported over 100,000 smartphones worth more than Nu 2.7bn.
