S Alam Group seeks VAT exemption on oil supply

Business group S Alam, which has been in discussions on various issues, has now sought VAT exemption on soybean oil supplied to the government; Against whom there are multiple allegations of vandalism.

Chittagong's A Shilpa Group company S Alam Vegetable Oil Limited has sought VAT exemption on 500 tonnes of soybean oil supplied to the state-owned commodity marketing company Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).

Meanwhile, Chittagong Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate formed a 20-member investigation team on Tuesday to investigate the previous 'VAT evasion' of 18 companies of the discussed industrial group S Alam. It has also been directed to submit the inquiry report within one month.

Amid earlier allegations of VAT evasion, S Alam Vegetable Oil Limited applied to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on April 17 seeking VAT exemption on 500 tonnes of soybean oil supplied to the government.

Two days after the deadline for VAT exemption, their application is submitted, a copy of which is given to TCB.

The government company TCB, which sells products to the public at low prices, is now in trouble as the oil company's VAT exemption from NBR is not resolved.

TCB Additional Director (Finance and Accounts) Md Rabiul Morshed said, “We have deducted the VAT and paid the remaining oil supply in full. A letter has been sent to NBRK seeking opinion and guidance in this regard. If we have to pay VAT, we will pay it.”

In this regard, another TCB official said, “After the interruption period, the remaining bill has been paid excluding the musak as the applicable musak of soybean oil was not mentioned in the musak challan submitted along with the bill of soybean oil supplied by S Alam Vegetable Oil Limited.

“But still Musak has not been released. We have sent a letter to NBR seeking opinion and instructions as there may be problems with TCB in the audit if not exempted later.”

On August 14, a letter was sent from TCB seeking NBR's opinion.

It said, “Since the company (S Alam Vegetable Oil) is the producer, has issued the Musak challan and has requested exemption from Musak along with the stock statement of undistributed refined soybean oil dated April 17 signed by the Musak officer, for the determination of duty on cut Musak stored as TCB, the National The opinion or direction of the Board of Revenue is required.”

Refined soybean oil and palm oil from NBR through SRO till April 15 were exempted from duty at local production and trader level. But the company supplied 500 tonnes of oil out of about 1,500 tonnes after the relaxation period due to Eid holidays and low packing (bottling) capacity.

At present, soybean oil is subject to 15 percent VAT at the local production level and 5 percent at the commercial level.

S Alam Group executive director Subrata Kumar Bhowmik was called to inquire about this but he did not pick up.

A VAT official of NBR said that there are various complaints against this company. It is not yet known what the decision on the exemption will be. They are also being investigated for VAT evasion.

Earlier, Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate of Chittagong found evidence of VAT evasion of 1 thousand 959 crore taka against S Alam Vegetable Oil Limited for the next three years from 2019-20 financial year.

In addition, the Commissionerate of VAT found proof of VAT evasion of Tk 1,653 crore against S Alam Super Edible Oil, which is now being sued in court.

VAT evasion investigation started

Syed Musfiqur Rahman, Commissioner of Chittagong Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate said, “I got proof of VAT evasion of about Tk 3,600 crore against two companies of S Alam in June. This time, initially, I got another 150 crore evasion from other institutions.

“We have constituted a 20-member investigation team to ascertain the true extent of VAT evasion. They will submit the report within a month.”

Stating that 18 companies of the S Alam Group have a total of 20 VAT registrations, this VAT Commissioner said, “Earlier we did not get any help in getting the information from the bank. Now in the changed times, I hope to get all the information and take action soon.”

The companies of S.Alam industrial group which are being investigated for VAT evasion are – S.Alam Steel Limited (Unit-1), S.Alam Steel Ltd. (Unit-2), S Alam Steel Ltd. (Unit-3), Chemon Ispat Limited, New S Alam Shoes & Burmese, S Alam Refined Sugar, SS Power Limited, Autoborts Automobiles, Platinum Spinning Mills Limited, S Alam Power Plant Limited, S Alam Properties Limited, S Alam Cold Re- Rolling Mills, Signing Ascent Limited, Grand Spinning Mills Limited, Masood Printing & Packaging, Infinity CR Strip Industries Limited, S Alam Bag Manufacturing Mills Limited and Ocean Resort Limited.

The probe team has been directed to collect and audit all business data including income and expenditure till the financial year 2023-24.

What about the previous loophole?

In June, the Commissionerate's verdict found that S Alam Vegetable Oil Limited and S Alam Super Edible Oil Limited had evaded VAT to the tune of Rs 3,600 crore.

In the next three years from the fiscal year 2019-20, S Alam Vegetable Oil evaded 1 thousand 959 crores of VAT by showing low sales in the VAT returns and purchasing edible oil production materials.

Similarly, S Alam Super Edible Oil evaded Tk 1,653 crore in VAT.

Dissatisfied with the verdict of the Commissionerate, two institutions of Chittagong approached the court. However, the rule is that if a company is dissatisfied with the verdict of the Commissionerate, the company has to appeal to the Customs, Excise and VAT Appellate Tribunal by paying 20 percent of the Commissionerate's demand.

If the verdict goes against it, there is an opportunity to go to the high court later.

However, these two companies of S Alam did not walk on this path. As a result, Musfiqur Rahman pointed out that there is no chance of exemption from VAT evasion without bringing a 'stay order' from the court.

He said, “Hopefully, the court will not be in their favor now. As a result, we will be able to collect VAT.”

NBR Member (Moosq Implementation & IT) Mainul Khan also said the same.

He said, “The two institutions did not go to the court as per the normal process. Hopefully, the court will also rule in our favor and we will be able to collect a good amount of revenue from the evasion.”

Summons S Alam's bank account

In the changed situation after the fall of the government, NBR has summoned the bank accounts of Saiful Alam, Chairman and Managing Director of S Alam Industrial Group and his family members.

All banks and financial institutions have been asked to send the information by letter on Thursday.

A letter in this regard signed by Ahsan Habib, Commissioner of Tax Zone-15, Income Tax Department of NBR, has been sent to all banks.

Apart from this, credit card information in the names of his family members has also been sought from the tax authorities.

The letter asked to provide the bank account details of S. Alam's (Saiful Alam) wife Farzana Parveen, mother Chemon Ara Begum and brother Abdullah Hasan.

At the same time they have to send the details of all the bank accounts held in the joint name or business name of their parents, spouse, son, daughter or sister.

91 banks of the country and all branches of the financial sector have been asked to send their accounts.

Source: bdnews24.com

Bangladesh /SBT