A case has been filed against Foodpander, an online food supplier, for tax evasion worth Tk 34 million.
A case was filed in the VAT Intelligence Department of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Wednesday, a press release said.
According to the VAT detective, a surprise operation was conducted at the Gulshan-2 Food Panda office in the capital on October 15. The operation matched the evidence of VAT evasion by analyzing the data on the sale of food pandas.
The company has been sued under the VAT Act for using incorrect service codes, concealing actual sales information and not paying tax at source, the statement said.
The case will be sent to Dhaka North VAT Commissionerate for disposal.
Foodpander Actual Service Code S-099.60. Under this code, VAT is applicable at the rate of 5 percent and 15 percent on house rent.
According to the information seized from the computer of the organization, from July 2019 to January and April of 2020, a total of 26 crore 57 lakh 57 thousand 517 sales information was found. At the same time, the company has shown a sale price of Tk 15 crore 85 lakh 19 thousand 982 in the local Gulshan VAT circle.
According to the VAT detective, the company has hidden a total of Tk 11 crore 93 lakh 36 thousand 545 sales information in the last eight months, on which VAT evaded Tk 53 lakh 10 thousand 84.
As this VAT is not paid on time, according to the VAT Act, interest at the rate of 2 percent per month is applicable at the rate of Tk 9 lakh 65 thousand 720.
The company has not paid any VAT on rent since its inception due to inconsistent registration under the service code S-099.10.
According to the CA report seized from the company, from 2014 to 2016, 2 crore 50 lakh 35 thousand 499 taka has been shown for house rent, on which the applicable VAT is 29 lakh 8 thousand 26 taka.
Besides, according to the confiscated rental agreement for the period from January 2019 to August 2020, 1 crore 84 lakh rupees has been shown for the house rent, on which the applicable VAT is 26 lakh 70 thousand rupees. In other words, a total of 57 lakh 6 thousand 26 rupees VAT has been evaded for house rent.
As the VAT on the rent of this house was not paid on time, the interest rate at the rate of 2 percent per month is 23 lakh 81 thousand 920 rupees.
The review of the submission also shows that the company, despite being a limited company, did not pay VAT at any source on the purchase of goods. According to the seized CA report, from 2014 to 2016, 1 crore 24 lakh 35 thousand 553 rupees was evaded at source.
Due to non-payment of this source on time, according to the VAT Act, Tk 82 lakh 12 thousand 619 is applicable as interest at the rate of 2 percent per month.
Foodpanda Bangladesh Limited did not pay a total of Tk 2,34,11,753 including VAT of Tk 53,10,064 for sale of goods, Tk 57,07,026 for house rent and Tk 1,24,35,553 for withholding tax at source. 1 crore 5 lakh 40 thousand 260 rupees will be applicable for interest on this unpaid VAT.
The company is involved in VAT evasion of a total of Tk 34 million.
It's a big amount 😲