The Supreme Court has stated that Bhat-Bhateni Super Market, among other private firms, used fake VAT bills to evade tax.
On Monday, a division bench of Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Jabra and Judge Prakash Kumar Dhungana upheld the decision of the Revenue Tribunal two years ago, saying that firms including Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket were using fake VAT bills to evade taxes.
The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) had charged various companies with evading Rs 90 million in 2010 and 2011 and more than Rs 200 million in previous years. The issue reached the desk of the DRI director general under administrative review. They then appealed to the Revenue Tribunal, which upheld the findings of the lower authorities. The dispute then reached the Supreme Court.
Since the written copy of the verdict has not been made public, the details of the decision are yet to be obtained. Similarly, the apex court also decided that Shankar Oxygen Gas Pvt Ltd, AIT Pvt Ltd and Mahesh Baniya were evading taxes by using fake Vat bills.
With the court’s decision, the companies will have to pay the tax amount determined by the tax administration. DRI concluded that Bhat-Bhateni Super Market had evaded Rs 38 million in fiscal year 2010 and 2011 by faking bills for transaction in items that it never imported.
