Gold making charge in Nepal (ज्याला–जर्ती): what a jeweller's bill adds to the rate

A bill from a Nepali jewellery shop has up to six lines. Only the first starts from a published figure. The shop sets the next three, and the law sets the last two.

Jyala (ज्याला) is the goldsmith's wage: what the shop charges to turn gold into a chain, a ring or a tilhari. Jarti (जर्ती) is the gold lost while the piece is made, in filings, scraps and the melt. Jewellers often bill the two as one figure, ज्याला–जर्ती, as a percentage of the gold value.

Neither has an official rate. The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has no directive on making charges, and told Kantipur in December 2024 that it could not monitor them without one. FENEGOSIDA's own guideline for its members allows up to 15% for jyala and jarti together, by the same report. A jeweller quoted there put the gold really lost at no more than 1%.

Shops charge in three ways: a percentage of the gold value, a fixed amount for the piece, or extra weight charged at the gold rate. One online jeweller, for example, lists a 1.166-gram naugedi with 0.466 grams of ‘wastage’ billed at the full gold rate.

• Plain chains and rings: reports put ज्याला–जर्ती at roughly 6% to 12% of the gold value. In late 2024, shops on New Road and in Bishalbazar were charging 5.99% to 7%, and others 10% to 12%.
• Detailed and traditional pieces cost far more. The same 2024 report found 33.65% on a Ganesh locket and 56.25% on a tilhari.
• Small pieces often carry a fixed wage instead. One jeweller gave about Rs 5,000 for a piece of one or two grams.
• 22 carat can be quoted a higher percentage than fine gold. One jeweller advertises 7–8% on 24 carat and 11–16% on 22 carat.

Gold carries no VAT in Nepal. The VAT Act 2052 charges no tax on anything in its Schedule 1 (section 5(3)). Group 11 of that schedule lists unwrought gold and silver (headings 71.08 and 71.06), gold and silver jewellery (71.13) and coins (71.18).

Nor, from 2083/84, does the making charge. The Finance Act 2083 exempted the ज्याला for making gold and silver jewellery and objects, the Inland Revenue Department's booklet on the Act says. Up to 2082/83, making and repair work carried 13% VAT where the business was over the VAT threshold, and the same Act waives what was not collected.

Diamonds and precious stones do carry VAT. The Finance Act 2082 took them off the exempt list, and in June 2026 the IRD said that VAT had not been removed. A diamond or gem-set piece can therefore carry 13% VAT. Ask which part of the bill it is charged on.

The 2% luxury fee on gold has gone. For 2083/84 it became a 0.5% skill promotion fee (सीप प्रवर्द्धन शुल्क) on the sale of gold, silver and their jewellery, collected when a shop sells to you. The IRD's summary does not say whether it falls on the gold alone or the whole price; one online shop charges it on the gold and the making charge together.

Customs duty is already in the rate. The banks that import gold pay 20% (Customs Tariff 2026/27, heading 7108), and FENEGOSIDA's rate includes it. It is not a line on your bill.

Nepali jewellers weigh gold in tola, aana and lal (लाल, also written laal), and rates are quoted per tola and per 10 grams. These are the figures our calculator uses: 1 tola is 11.664 grams.

• Jarti billed as weight is easy to price: at an example rate of Rs 2,80,000 a tola, each lal of extra gold costs Rs 2,800 and each aana Rs 17,500.
• Per gram, the same rate is Rs 24,005, and 10 grams Rs 2,40,055.

FENEGOSIDA publishes one gold rate: fine gold, 99.99% pure, shown on its site as Fine Gold (9999), per tola and per 10 grams. This is the gold traders call छापावाल, ‘stamped’.

Tejabi (तेजाबी) is a grade slightly below fine gold. When the federation still printed a tejabi rate, it was only a few hundred rupees a tola lower: Rs 1,17,850 against Rs 1,18,400 in Falgun 2080, or 0.46% less. Its rates page now carries no tejabi line. Some websites call tejabi 22 carat, but the federation's own figures do not bear that out: 22 carat would be about 8% cheaper.

22 carat is 91.6% gold and 18 carat 75%. No one publishes a rate for them. The usual estimate is the fine-gold rate times the purity, which is what the calculator does. A shop may use its own figure, so ask which rate and which purity the bill uses.

Hallmarks. Nepal has no compulsory hallmark on jewellery. The Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology's scheme, approved in 2014, was voluntary and set 99.5% as the standard for 24 carat; we could not confirm that it hallmarks jewellery today. The purity you can rely on is the one written on your bill.

Both bills use an example rate of Rs 2,80,000 a tola for fine gold. It is not today's rate: for that, and for your own weight, use the gold price calculator. The making charges are examples too, inside the range shops quote.

1. 1Turn the weight into tola. The chain is 2 tola. The ring is 5 aana, and 5 ÷ 16 = 0.3125 tola.
2. 2Find the rate for the purity. Fine gold takes the full rate. 22 carat takes 91.6% of it: Rs 2,80,000 × 0.916 = Rs 2,56,480.
3. 3Multiply. 2 × Rs 2,80,000 = Rs 5,60,000. 0.3125 × Rs 2,56,480 = Rs 80,150.
4. 4Add the making charge. The chain's 10% is Rs 56,000. The ring's jarti of 5% is Rs 4,008 and its fixed wage Rs 5,000, so Rs 9,008 in all.
5. 5Add 0.5% of that subtotal for the skill promotion fee. Add VAT only if there are stones.

FENEGOSIDA, the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, publishes the rate each morning; on 11 Kartik 2083 its site showed it updated at 10:35 am. The federation does not publish its formula. These steps are how it described the method to myRepublica in 2020 and to Onlinekhabar in 2023, when it also said it gave the Indian market price a 25% weight.

Supply is rationed. Only commercial banks may import gold, within a daily limit that Nepal Rastra Bank sets and changes: 20 kg a day from September 2023 by NRB's own record, and 25 kg from October 2025 by news reports. Dealers buy from the banks.

1. 1Start from the international price of gold, in US dollars an ounce.
2. 2Convert it to rupees at Nepal Rastra Bank's exchange rate.
3. 3Add customs duty, now 20% on imported gold, with freight and insurance.
4. 4Add a margin of 0.5% each for the importing banks and for the dealers, then express it per tola and per 10 grams.

When you sell, a shop pays for the gold in the piece, not for the piece. It weighs it, tests the purity and multiplies by its own buying rate for the day. The making charge, the jarti and the 0.5% fee you paid do not come back.

Take the example chain. You paid Rs 6,19,080. Sold back on a day when the rate is still Rs 2,80,000, the gold in it is worth Rs 5,60,000, and every 1% the shop deducts takes off another Rs 5,600. The rate has to rise by more than 10% before that chain sells for what it cost.

Shops may also deduct for melting, or call it jarti, on jewellery that has been worn. Kantipur reported the practice in 2024. We found no rule on it and no reliable typical figure. An exchange works the same way: your old piece is valued as gold, and the new piece carries its full making charge.

• Take the original bill. Shops ask for it, and a bill that states the purity settles arguments about the test.
• Ask what rate they are paying, and how it compares with FENEGOSIDA's rate for the day.
• Watch the weighing and the purity test, and ask for the result in writing.
• Ask what is deducted, as a percentage or in grams, and what for.
• Take your citizenship certificate. Buyers ask for identification.
• Changed your mind about a purchase? The Consumer Protection Act 2075 lets you return goods within seven days, with the bill, for a full refund or similar goods, with no deduction, unless they have been used or altered (section 14). Ask the shop how it applies this to jewellery.

The law is on your side here. A seller must display a price list and give a bill for every sale, and refusing a bill is a prohibited act (Consumer Protection Act 2075, sections 11 and 16). The Inland Revenue Department reminded shops in Asar 2083 that an invoice is required for every sale.

1. 1Check the date and the rate. The rate should match FENEGOSIDA's for that day, or the bill should say why it does not.
2. 2Check the weight in grams, or in tola, aana and lal: 1 tola = 11.664 g = 16 aana = 100 lal.
3. 3Check the purity is written down: fine (24 carat), 22 carat or 18 carat. If a 22-carat piece is charged at the full fine-gold rate, ask why.
4. 4Work out the gold value: the weight in tola times the rate. The gold price calculator does it in any unit, with the shop's rate typed in and the purity chosen.
5. 5Turn the making charge and jarti into a percentage of the gold value, so that you can compare shops.
6. 6Check the stones are priced on their own, and that their weight is not counted as gold.
7. 7Check the taxes. Expect the 0.5% skill promotion fee, and VAT only on stones; none on the gold or the making charge.
8. 8Check the total adds up, and that the bill names the shop, its PAN and the date. Keep it: you need it to sell or return the piece.