NBR raids Lakeshore Hotel on VAT evasion charges

The VAT intelligence of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Tuesday conducted a raid at the Lakeshore Hotel in the capital’s Gulshan area on charges of VAT evasion.

The team also seized 349 bottles of foreign liquor as the hotel authorities failed to provide legal documents behind importing those, reads a press release.  

The hotel did not submit VAT returns since January 2020 – a flagrant violation of the VAT law, according to the VAT Audit Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (VATAIID).

As per VAT and Supplementary Duty Act-2012, a business entity is supposed to file VAT returns within the 15th day of the next month.

The NBR team, led by VATAIID Deputy Director Nazmunnahar Kaisar, also seized residential services documents and found evidence of VAT evasion after cross checking those with the VAT returns submitted by the hotel in 2019.

The team initially found that the hotel authorities had concealed sales information and did not deposit the VAT collected from customers to the government exchequer.

After cross checking the seized documents, the NBR will be able to ascertain the actual amount evaded by the hotel, adds the release.