Fact Check: Viral Claim That Swarnim Wagle Will Remove 300% Vehicle Tax Is Misleading

Kathmandu. In the past few days, a claim quoting Swarnin Wagle, leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party and recently elected member of the House of Representatives, has been going viral on social media. According to the claim, he reportedly said that the upcoming government would remove the 300 percent tax imposed on the purchase of new vehicles.

Many users have requested TechPana to conduct a fact-check on this matter. In this context, the claim that Swarnim Wagle made such a statement appears misleading.

Claim

A Facebook page named Purbeli News posted a post on March 10, 2026, at 1:44 p.m., quoting Swarnim Wagle. The caption of the post, along with Wagle’s photo and the text over the photo overlay, reads,’ Now our government will remove the 300 percent tax applicable when purchasing a new vehicle: Dr. Swarnim Wagle.’

See the post, archive link, and screenshot.

Investigation

Seeing that this type of claim was going viral, the TechPana Fact Check desk started an investigation. Searching on Facebook with the keyword ‘300%,’ we found many posts with similar claims. Among them, a Facebook page named All Nepal also wrote on Facebook with a photo of Wagle, “Dr. Swarnim Wagle has drafted a policy to abolish vehicle tax by almost 300% according to the current tax structure. This proposal is said to aim to reduce vehicle prices and lessen the tax burden on the general public.”

See the post and the screenshot:

Similarly, a verified Facebook page named Ujawal Jha wrote, “The proposal to reduce or remove nearly 300 percent tax on new vehicles naturally raises a question—does reducing the tax cause a problem in the country’s economy or not?

From an analytical perspective, reducing excessive taxes may initially decrease the government revenue, but after the tax is lowered, the market may be active, vehicle purchases may increase, and overall economic activity may pick up. Ultimately, if the right balance is achieved, tax cuts can relieve pressure on the economy and create new opportunities. #balen” on the photo posted with the post, it says, “The Rastriya Swatantra Party government is preparing to remove approximately 300 percent tax on the purchase of new vehicles. Dr. Swarnim Wagle.”

See the post and screenshot.

Similarly, another Facebook page called Dainik Khabar Nepal has posted something similar. It states, “Swarnim Wagle has said, 'Our government will remove the nearly 300 percent tax that has been applied when purchasing new vehicles.’ #dainikkhabarnepal #highlights #swarnimwagle #RSP”

See the post and the screenshot.

Based on the viral claims and news, Harka Sampang, the former head of Dharan, chairman of the Labour Culture Party, and newly elected MP, also wrote on his Facebook page, Harka Sampang A Revolution, “There is a policy of buying foreign vehicles even after 300% tax reduction! If it were up to us, a policy to manufacture cars in this country would have come, but the people did not want it! Hail the people, Janardan!”

See Sampang’s post and screenshot:

During the search, a video was found on a Facebook page named Jhapa Chaubis Ghanta, with a caption that read, “Tax reform: Swarnim Wagle says the tax on vehicles will be reduced by 300% ||.”

In the video, Surendra KC and Wagle can be heard conversing with each other. The transcription (translated) is as follows:

Surendra KC: The range, you know, of our tax…​

Swarnim Wagle: All of it will decrease. I have written that.

Surendra KC: Isn’t that surprising, for our country?

Swarnim Wagle: Absolutely.

Surendra KC: 300% tax on any item… Where did you get this knowledge?

Swarnim Wagle: That is…​

Surendra KC: Where did this knowledge come from?

Swarnim Wagle: Because they did not go to other alternative sources, sources of revenue. It was easier to collect it from customs, wasn’t it? With the informal economy being large, the state mechanism could not manage to go door-to-door either. In the tradition of collecting revenue at checkpoints, we went for the easy way of collecting revenue, and everything is piled up there. What it actually did is that all the revenue that should be collected is now an open border, isn’t it? Smuggling happens. So what I want is to reduce the overall tax burden. From VAT to income tax to corporate tax, and after that, increase revenue. There is also a way to increase revenue even by reducing rates, which we must try in this country. For that, we also need the cooperation of the business community.

See the post, its screenshot, and screen recording:

After that, we searched for the video of an interview between Swarnim Wagle and Surendra KC on YouTube. On February 19, 2026, we found a 37:53-minute-long video on a YouTube channel named Sunaulo Nepal TV. The dialogue can be heard from 31:15 to 32:12 minutes of that video. 

Go to the link of the video or watch the video below.

What can be seen from the video interview is that Wagle spoke about reducing the overall tax rate and increasing the scope. Surendra KC said, “That scope, you know, of our tax.” Wagle interrupted, saying, “All of that decreases. I’ve written that.”

Immediately after Wagle’s response, KC added a counterquestion saying, ‘Isn’t that surprising in our country?’ and Wagle also agreed by saying, ‘Absolutely.’

Only then does KC bring up the issue of taxes up to 300 percent and asks, “And then, expressing his opinion about the tax system, Wagle gives a vague answer, “Because they did not go to other alternative sources, sources of revenue. It was easier to collect it from customs, wasn’t it? With the informal economy being large, the state mechanism could not manage to go door-to-door either. In the tradition of collecting revenue at checkpoints, we went for the easy way of collecting revenue, and everything is piled up there. What it actually did is that all the revenue that should be collected is now an open border, isn’t it? Smuggling happens. 

So what I want is to reduce the overall tax burden. From VAT to income tax to corporate tax, and after that, increase revenue. There is also a way to increase revenue even by reducing rates, which we must try in this country. For that, we also need the cooperation of the business community.”

In the context of this interview, Wagle mentioned a reduction in the overall tax rate. However, he did not make any statement saying that the 300 percent tax on vehicle purchase would be completely removed. Nor did Surendra KC, who was in the role of an interviewer, specifically name it as a vehicle. He merely added the context that a tax rate of up to 300 percent is unnatural. Only after Wagle said ‘all of it will decrease’ in the context of tax rates did KC add the reference to 300 percent, without even using the word ‘vehicle.’

Along with this, the TechPana FactCheck Desk also had a conversation with Swarnim Wagle regarding the viral claim. In response to the question, “Did you say that the upcoming government would remove the 300 percent tax on new vehicle purchases?” he said, “Until now, I have never made any statement anywhere about removing or needing to remove the 300 percent tax on vehicle purchases. If someone makes such a claim, it is outright fake. We just talked about reducing the overall tax rate and expanding its scope. You can also see this in our manifesto. That is all I have said regarding tax.”

Claim

Leader of the Rastriya Swatantrata Party and member of Parliament, Swarnim Wagle has stated that the upcoming government will remove the 300 percent tax imposed on the purchase of new vehicles.

Claimants

Facebook pages like Purbeli News, All Nepal, Dainik Khabar Nepal. The Facebook page of Harka Sampang, chairman of the Labour Culture Party.

Facts

In an interview between Swarnim Wagle and Surendra KC published on the YouTube channel ‘Sunaulo Nepal TV’ on February 19, 2026, the tax system was discussed. In the interview, Wagle expressed the view that the overall tax burden should be reduced while expanding the tax base.. During the conversation, KC mentioned the existence of taxes reaching up to 300 percent on some items. However, Wagle did not clearly state that the 300 percent tax on vehicle purchases would be removed.

In a telephone conversation with TechPana, Wagle also clarified that he never made such a statement. Although the video clip being circulated online is real, it has been shared with misleading titles and captions.

Conclusion

Based on the available evidence, the claim that Swarnim Wagle has announced the removal of  300 percent tax on vehicle purchases is misleading. In the interview, he only expressed a general view about reducing the overall tax rate and expanding the tax base. He did not make any specific statement about removing the 300 percent tax on vehicles. 

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