VAT Intelligence sues Mr Baker

Dhaka (Nov 8, 2020): VAT intelligence has filed a case against Mr Baker Cake and Pastry Shop Ltd for evading tax of Tk 80 crore and concealing information of worth Tk 265 crore.

The VAT intelligence today filed the case as the authority of the Mr Baker Cake and Pastry Shop Ltd concealed the accounts of worth Tk 265 crore intending to dodge the tax.

Based on specific information, a VAT intelligence team, headed by its deputy directors Nazmun Nahar Kaisar and Ferdousi Mahbub, conducted a drive at the head office of Mr Baker Cake and Pastry Shop Ltd and Mr Baker Sweets located at Tongi in Gazipur on October 20.

Later, they asked the concerned authorities of the factory to submit details of two bank accounts in order to assess the actual transactions.

The team also found that the head office and factory of the firm was not preserving purchase and sales documents as per the provisions of the VAT law.

It seems that the firm has been filing VAT returns and paying VAT based on fictitious calculations and has not deposited the VAT collected from consumers to the government exchequer.

There are 29 sales centres of the Mr Baker in the capital and during the drive, it is seen that the sale centres were selling cake, pastry and sweet items without issuing VAT challans to the consumers.

Asif Zaman, a retired senior secretary in a Facebook post on October 18, alleged that a branch of Mr Baker at Sector 3 on Road No. 4 at Uttara did not issue challans despite collecting VAT from customers.

Seeking remedy from the National Board of Revenue Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, Zaman wrote in the post that the government is being deprived of revenue though the Mr Baker is collecting VAT from consumers.

Following the allegation, the NBR chairman asked the VAT intelligence to conduct a raid to find out the fact in this regard.