Why an English site has a Nepali glossary
Because the gap is a vocabulary gap, not a language gap. Nepali salaried readers overwhelmingly search and work in English or Romanised Nepali, but the Act, the Department and every official notice are in Nepali — so the same concept arrives under two names, and nothing on the site said they were the same thing.
What this page is not is a second copy of the tax content. A translated calculator would be a second place for a rate to be wrong, and on money content two answers that disagree is worse than one answer in a language you have to work at. Every figure stays in one engine; only the words are bridged.
Pay and the payslip
तलब र तलबी पर्ची — The words on the document, before any tax is worked out.
- तलबtalab
Salary
The regular monthly payment from an employer, before any deduction.
- कुल तलबkul talab
Gross salary
Everything the employer pays before tax and fund contributions come off. This is the figure the calculator asks for first.
See it worked out →- आधारभूत तलबaadharbhut talab
Basic salary
The base that Provident Fund and Social Security Fund contributions are charged on. It is not the same as gross, and using gross by mistake overstates every contribution.
See it worked out →- खुद तलबkhud talab
Net salary
What actually reaches the bank once tax and your own fund contribution are taken out. Also called take-home or in-hand.
See it worked out →- भत्ताbhatta
Allowance
A cash payment on top of salary — transport, fuel, communication. Taxable in your hands, which surprises people who expect it to be exempt.
- पारिश्रमिकparishramik
Remuneration
The Act's own word for employment income as a whole: salary, allowances, bonus and benefits together.
- उपदानupadan
Gratuity
A lump sum paid on leaving, based on length of service.
- बोनसbonas
Bonus
A festival or profit payment. Fully taxable, and assessed across the whole year rather than only the month it is paid.
See it worked out →
The tax itself
कर — What is charged, on what, and at which rate.
- आयकरaayakar
Income tax
The tax the Income Tax Act 2058 charges on income, whatever the income came from.
See it worked out →- तलब करtalab kar
Salary tax
Not a separate tax. It is income tax on employment income, collected monthly by the employer instead of once a year by the taxpayer.
See it worked out →- निर्धारणयोग्य आयnirdharanyogya aaya
Assessable income
Income for the year before reliefs — pay, allowances, bonus, plus the employer's retirement contribution, which the Act counts as yours.
See it worked out →- करयोग्य आयkarayogya aaya
Taxable income
What is left after every relief has been taken off assessable income. The bands run on this figure, not on your gross salary.
See it worked out →- कर दरkar dar
Tax rate
The percentage charged on one band of income. Nepal charges five for FY 2083/84, from 1% to 29%.
See it worked out →- स्ल्याबslab
Tax slab / band
One stretch of income charged at one rate. Bands are marginal — each rate touches only the slice inside it, so a raise never costs more than it pays.
See it worked out →- सामाजिक सुरक्षा करsamajik suraksha kar
Social Security Tax
The 1% charged on the first band. A Social Security Fund member does not pay it; a Provident Fund member does.
See it worked out →- आर्थिक वर्षaarthik barsha
Fiscal year
Shrawan 1 to the end of Ashad. Tax is assessed on the whole year, which is why joining or leaving part-way through changes the bill.
Deductions and relief
कट्टी र छुट — The two things a payslip calls a deduction, and the reliefs behind them.
- कर कट्टीkar katti
Deduction
Two different things in one word: money leaving your pay, and an amount subtracted from income before the bands apply. Only the second lowers the tax.
See it worked out →- स्रोतमा कर कट्टीsrotma kar katti
TDS — tax deducted at source
Income tax withheld by the payer instead of paid by the taxpayer. On a salary it is one month's share of the year's bill, not a rate of its own.
See it worked out →- छुटchhut
Relief / exemption
An amount the Act lets you subtract from assessable income — an approved retirement contribution, or an insurance premium.
See it worked out →- कर छुट सीमाkar chhut seema
Relief ceiling
The most a relief can be worth. Provident Fund, Social Security Fund and Citizen Investment Trust share one ceiling between them, which is where a CIT top-up quietly stops saving tax.
See it worked out →- बिमा शुल्कbima shulka
Insurance premium
Life and health insurance premiums each carry their own relief, outside the retirement ceiling. The relief is for the premium, never for a medical bill.
See it worked out →- मिलानmilan
Rebate
A reduction applied to the computed tax rather than to income. A resident woman with employment income receives 10%, applied last.
See it worked out →
The retirement funds
कोष — Three funds, one shared relief ceiling, and very different tax effects.
- योगदानyogdan
Contribution
Money paid into a fund. Yours comes off the payslip; your employer's is added on top and is taxable income in your hands.
See it worked out →- कर्मचारी सञ्चय कोषkarmachari sanchaya kosh
Employees Provident Fund (PF)
10% from the employee and 10% from the employer, both on basic salary. A member still pays the 1% Social Security Tax band.
See it worked out →- सामाजिक सुरक्षा कोषsamajik suraksha kosh
Social Security Fund (SSF)
11% from the employee and 20% from the employer, on basic salary. A member does not pay the 1% band, so the same gross salary carries less tax.
See it worked out →- नागरिक लगानी कोषnagarik lagani kosh
Citizen Investment Trust (CIT)
A voluntary scheme. Its relief is only the room the mandatory fund leaves inside the shared ceiling, which is often far less than the amount put in.
See it worked out →
Filing, and the office
दाखिला र कार्यालय — The documents, and who issues them.
- आन्तरिक राजस्व विभागaantarik rajaswa bibhag
Inland Revenue Department (IRD)
Nepal's tax authority, under the Ministry of Finance. It runs the taxpayer portal, issues PANs, and publishes the rules every calculator is built on.
See it worked out →- स्थायी लेखा नम्बरsthayi lekha number
PAN — permanent account number
The identifier every rupee of withheld tax is credited against. Tax deposited without it cannot be credited to you.
- आय विवरणaaya bibaran
Income tax return
The annual statement of income filed with the Department. Many salaried people never file one, because the employer's withholding is treated as final.
- कर चुक्ता प्रमाणपत्रkar chukta pramanpatra
Tax clearance certificate
Issued by the Department once the return is filed and the tax is paid. Commonly asked for by employers, banks and tenders.
- आयकर ऐन, २०५८aayakar ain, 2058
Income Tax Act 2058
The Act every figure on this site is computed from, as amended. It defines assessable income, the reliefs and the ceilings.
- आर्थिक ऐनaarthik ain
Finance Act
Passed with each year's budget. It sets that year's band table, which is why a tax figure without its fiscal year attached is usually wrong.
See it worked out →
Sources
- आन्तरिक राजस्व विभाग — Inland Revenue Department
The Department's own Nepali wording for the terms above, and the notices they appear in.
- आयकर ऐन, २०५८ — Income Tax Act 2058
Where assessable income, taxable income and the reliefs are defined.
- सामाजिक सुरक्षा कोष — Social Security Fund
Contribution rates and the Fund's own terminology.
- नागरिक लगानी कोष — Citizen Investment Trust
The CIT scheme, and what a contribution buys.