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Officials were likely to face difficulties in cross-checking financial details furnished in the value added tax (VAT) returns filed by the global technology giants as the companies did not have local offices in Bangladesh.
The main obstacle that the officials would face is to communicate with the representatives of the non-resident companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon as and when necessary, sources said.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is yet to start auditing the VAT returns filed under the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate, Dhaka South.
The revenue authority made it mandatory in July 2019 for the non-resident companies to submit VAT returns, aiming to cross-check the actual business transactions and the amount of VAT paid.
The provision, however, took two years to come into force due to absence of required amendments of the VAT laws and provisions.
VAT commissioner (south zone) Showkat Ali Saadi said that it was difficult to communicate with the tech companies unless they set up offices in Bangladesh.
The VAT officials have to contact their representatives here if they want to audit the VAT files, he added.
Officials said the process of auditing the companies has been determined in the Audit Manual-2022, issued recently by the NBR.
The non-resident companies are maintaining their VAT payment accounts and appointed VAT agents as per instruction of the NBR, but the agents will not be liable for any mismatch, they added.
The VAT-registered global tech giants are: Google Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Google Ireland Limited, Amazon Web, Facebook Ireland Limited, Facebook Payments International Limited, Facebook Technologies Ireland Limited, Microsoft Regional Sales PTE Ltd., Netflix Pte. Ltd and Amazon.com Services.
During May 2021 to June 22, Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd paid the highest Tk4 crore in October 2021 and lowest Tk56 lakh in May 21.
However, there was no payment in February 2022.
The company paid a total of Tk21.4 crore in VAT until June 2022 while Amazon web services paid Tk4.5 crore, Facebook Ireland Tk32.5 crore, Facebook Payments International Limited Tk6 lakh, Facebook Technologies Ireland Limited Tk5 lakh, Microsoft Regional Sales Pte Ltd Tk4.6 crore, Google Ireland Limited Tk52 lakh, Netflix Tk2.2 crore and Amazon.com Services Tk24 lakh.
(DT)
