Kathmandu-The Finance Minister’s Secretariat on Thursday allegedly tampered with details of vehicles that passed customs inspection in the month before the budget at the Rasuwa and Mustang customs offices, in an apparent attempt to cover up a leak of information on proposed tax increases.

The Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance operates the  Automated System for Customs Data ( ASYCUDA), which records all details of goods cleared through customs. Goods can enter Nepal only after a customs officer approves them by entering key information, including price, importer name and address, code number of the customs checkpoint, date of inspection, declaration number, HS code, and other required details.

Customs officers enter data into the ASYCUDA system in real time when goods are cleared for import. The system stores this information instantly and shares it with the Customs Department, Inland Revenue Department, and the government’s central data centre, all of which use the same platform.

Following allegations of tax evasion, the Finance Minister’s Secretariat reportedly altered the published data and issued a clarification. After the Secretariat presented the issue in response to biznessnews and adjusted the interpretation of the data, Business News has decided to release the full dataset from the Customs ASYCUDA system for May 2026, covering the month before the budget.

Data contains four-wheelers vehicles import of all customs points in Nepal under H.S. code 8702, 8703, 8704, and 8705.

The CIF value of the vehicles has been used, while company details remain confidential due to privacy concerns. After the Ministry of Finance allegedly attempted to manipulate the data and shift the narrative,Biznessnews has published the complete vehicle import records from the ASYCUDA system. The publication apologises for any inconvenience caused to vehicle importers.

For raw data,please click the link below:
News from Nepali Edition of biznessnews