Nahid Enterprise sued for dodging Tk 275cr VAT

The VAT Intelligence has sued Nahid Enterprise for evading value-added tax of Tk 275 crore between July 2016 and May 2021.

Anwer Hossain, owner of Nahid Enterprise, was one of the individuals who were selected as the top taxpayers in the individual category in 2021.

The VAT Audit, Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (VAIID) has filed a case against the company on the allegation of dodging VAT on product sales and purchasing raw materials by misusing the bonded warehouse facilities.

VAT Intelligence officials said they raided the company's office in June this year and seized sales and purchase documents. After verifying the information, a case was filed yesterday.

The directorate also plans to lodge a money laundering case against the company for suspicious transactions in the company's bank accounts, according to a press release of the VAIID.

The company has shown that it sold goods worth Tk 291.89 crore in the last five years, but the VAT Intelligence officials found the actual sales figure were Tk 1,540.26 crore.

"Following an investigation, we found that the company has hidden their actual sales and purchase information to evade VAT," Moinul Khan, director-general of the VAIID, told The Daily Star.

The directorate also requested the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate and the Central Intelligence Cell to take further steps in this regard.