One missed date with the Office of the Company Registrar or the Inland Revenue Department, and a company that's fully compliant on paper suddenly owes late fees, faces director liability, or loses its tax clearance certificate right when it needs one for a loan or a visa. None of Nepal's compliance deadlines are a surprise once you know the calendar — the problem is that most business owners only learn the calendar after missing something on it.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. Exact deadlines, extensions, and penalty rates can change through IRD and OCR directives and may vary by company type. Please consult an ICAN-registered Chartered Accountant (CA) to confirm the current deadlines applicable to your business.
Figure: How Nepal's fiscal year, audit, AGM, tax filing, and OCR deadlines line up.
Nepal's Fiscal Year, Explained
Every compliance deadline in this article flows from one starting point: Nepal's government and corporate fiscal year runs from Shrawan 1 to the end of Ashadh, which corresponds approximately to mid-July through mid-July of the following Gregorian year. Every registered company's financial statements, audit, and tax obligations are measured against this same 12-month window, regardless of when the company happened to be incorporated.
Audit Completion and Tax Return Filing
The statutory audit for a given fiscal year must be completed before the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM), since audited financial statements are a required agenda item at the AGM. In practice, this means audits are typically finished well before Poush end (mid-January), the outer deadline for holding the AGM itself.
For income tax returns, the Income Tax Act 2058 sets the standard filing deadline at three months after fiscal year end — around Ashwin end (mid-October). Businesses that need more time can apply to the IRD for an extension, and in practice, many companies file closer to Poush end (mid-January) once an extension is granted, particularly when the audit itself is finishing around the same period. Because extension rules and practical processing timelines can shift from year to year, it's worth confirming your specific filing window with your auditor each fiscal year rather than assuming the same date applies automatically.
Annual Return Filing with the OCR
After the AGM is held, the company must file a return of the meeting with the OCR — including the AGM minutes, audited financial statements, auditor's report, and directors' report where applicable. This OCR filing is generally required within a short window after the AGM itself (commonly cited as around 30 days), and separately, private companies must ensure their audited accounts reach the OCR within 6 months of fiscal year end regardless of exact AGM timing. Because the precise day-count can differ depending on whether a company is private or public, and has been described differently across various professional guides, always verify the current requirement on the OCR's official portal or with your CA before your specific deadline approaches.
AGM Timing Requirements
Under the Companies Act 2063, every company — public or private — must hold its Annual General Meeting within six months of the fiscal year end, meaning by Poush end (mid-January) at the latest. Public companies additionally must send AGM notice to shareholders at least 21 days in advance and, for larger companies, submit a detailed pre-AGM report to the OCR roughly 21 days before the meeting itself. Missing the six-month AGM window is one of the most common compliance failures, since it has knock-on effects on every deadline that follows it — the OCR filing, the audit sign-off, and in many cases the tax return timeline as well.
A Brief Word on Penalties
Late filings are not a flat one-time fine — they accumulate. Both the OCR and the IRD apply penalties that grow the longer a filing remains outstanding, on top of possible director liability under the Companies Act for persistent non-compliance, and loss of good standing that can block tax clearance certificates, tender eligibility, and routine banking. We're keeping this section brief on purpose — a full breakdown of current interest rates and late-fee structures deserves its own dedicated post, since these figures are updated periodically and are easy to get wrong in a short summary.
Month-by-Month Compliance Calendar
| Nepali Month (approx. Gregorian) | What Should Be Happening | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Shrawan (mid-Jul–mid-Aug) | New fiscal year begins; close out prior year's books | Routine |
| Bhadra–Ashwin (mid-Aug–mid-Oct) | Auditor engaged; audit fieldwork underway | Prepare |
| Ashwin end (mid-Oct) | Standard income tax return deadline (or apply for extension) | Deadline |
| Kartik–Mangsir (mid-Oct–mid-Dec) | Finalize audited statements; prepare AGM documents | Prepare |
| Poush (mid-Dec–mid-Jan) | Hold AGM; complete audit sign-off; extended tax filing if applicable | Deadline |
| Within 30 days after AGM | File annual return and audited accounts with OCR | Deadline |
| Magh–Ashadh (mid-Jan–mid-Jul) | Routine filings (VAT, TDS); begin next year's audit planning | Routine |
Tips to Stay Ahead of Deadlines
- Engage your auditor early, not in Poush. Starting audit fieldwork in Bhadra or Ashwin instead of waiting until December gives everyone room to fix issues before the AGM deadline.
- Set internal reminders at least 45 days before each deadline. This gives enough runway to gather documents, get board sign-off, and file — rather than scrambling in the final week.
- Track deadlines by fiscal year, not calendar year. Since Nepal's fiscal year straddles two Gregorian years, a simple calendar reminder set for "January" every year is an easy way to miss the actual Poush-end cutoff.
- Keep a single compliance folder updated year-round. Bank statements, invoices, and ledgers organized continuously make the audit faster and reduce the chance of a rushed, error-prone filing near the deadline.
- Confirm exact dates with your CA every single year. Extensions, directive updates, and portal changes mean the "same date as last year" assumption is a common and avoidable mistake.
Key Takeaways
- Nepal's fiscal year runs Shrawan to Ashadh end (mid-July to mid-July) — every deadline below is measured against it.
- Standard tax return filing is due around Ashwin end (mid-October), extendable in practice toward Poush end.
- AGM must be held within six months of fiscal year end — by Poush end (mid-January) at the latest.
- OCR annual return filing follows shortly after the AGM, alongside audited accounts.
- Penalties accumulate the longer a filing is late — engaging your auditor early is the simplest way to avoid them.
Conclusion
Nepal's compliance calendar isn't complicated once it's mapped out — the fiscal year sets the clock, the audit and AGM cluster around Poush end, the OCR filing follows shortly after, and the tax return sits earlier in the sequence unless an extension is in play. What trips businesses up isn't the complexity of the rules; it's starting the process too late in the year to comfortably hit them.
Next step: If your fiscal year end is approaching and you haven't engaged an auditor yet, don't wait for Poush. Talk to an ICAN-registered Chartered Accountant now to lock in your audit timeline and confirm this year's exact filing dates for your business type.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. Always consult an ICAN-registered Chartered Accountant (CA) for guidance specific to your business and current regulatory requirements.
Discussion