Nepal’s Department of Customs investigated the matter and found that Cimex avoided paying taxes on the cars they imported. On December 8, 2023, the department sent a letter asking Cimex to pay Rs 11.2 million in unpaid taxes and fines. Cimex was given 15 days to prove their innocence, but they couldn’t provide enough evidence.  

When Cimex failed to respond properly, the customs office sent another letter on December 28, 2023, again demanding payment. Instead of paying, Cimex appealed to the Revenue Tribunal (RT) on February 14, 2024.  

In May 2024, the RT decided that Cimex had cheated the system. The company had added a fake cost of Rs 220,000 per car for "wirehouse handling fees" in Lhasa. This made the cars look more expensive on paper, which helped them avoid taxes. At the same time, Cimex charged buyers a  maximum retail price of Rs 5 million for each car.  

The RT ruled that these fake costs were not part of regular business expenses. It said Cimex used this trick to make more money while avoiding taxes. However, the RT also gave Cimex some relief by excluding Value Added Tax (VAT) on fines and charger-related costs. This reduced the total amount Cimex had to pay to Rs 7–8 million.  

The investigation also revealed that between October 2021 and October 2022, Cimex declared an import cost of just USD 10,000 per car for 20 BYD E6 vehicles at the Rasuwagadhi checkpoint. But another invoice showed the real cost was USD 27,000 per car. This confirmed that Cimex had lied about the costs to pay less tax and make unfair profits.