E0.5M MESS AS TANDOORI REOPENS

MBABANE – After four months of closure for alleged non-payment of taxes, Plaza Tandoori Restaurant has reopened, but now has to deal with E500 000 worth of damages.
The opening of the popular eatery comes after the High Court issued a judgment to open shop in the interim pending findings of a Tax Tribunal.

This is in the protracted legal battle with the Eswatini Revenue Authority (SRA) over alleged tax liability.
The judgment is, however, being met with resistance from SRA, which has since filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.

In his judgment, Judge Cyril Maphanga ordered and directed SRA to procure the establishment and appointment of an independent Tax Tribunal to receive and adjudicate the applicant’s appeal in terms of section 36 of the VAT Act of 2012.
“The matter is remitted to the Tax Tribunal to hear and determine the matter of tax proceedings in terms of the provisions of the VAT Act,” reads part of the judgment.
While waiting for the Tax Tribunal to deliberate on the matter, they could open shop. SRA closed Plaza Tandoori, situated at Swazi Plaza in Mbabane on March 13, 2020 demanding a sum of E3 466 355.85.

Sales

According to the authority, the eatery allegedly under-declared its sales by the sum of E2 396 076 .07 for the period from April to December 2012. The restaurant was opened following the court order, which was issued on July 16, 2020. Management of Tandoori yesterday waited patiently for the SRA officials who arrived shortly after 9am to open the eatery.

About three SRA officials arrived to open the restaurant accompanied by a police officer.
They immediately opened the sealed locks and entered the business area to observe it together with the management. There was, however, tension as they approached the storeroom following that most of the perishable goods were found to be spoilt, something that angered the restaurant owners.
The officers, however, left immediately after opening all areas of the business and did not entertain any complaints.
In an interview with Tandoori Director Mohammed Asraful Chowdhury, he said they were devastated by SRA’s behaviour, adding that before they closed shop, they had pleaded with them to at least take out the perishable items but they refused.

Dispose

Chowdhury said they had to dispose all of the foodstuffs, which included among other things chicken portions, onions, potatoes, tomato sauce, juice and soft drinks.
He noted that the closure of the business happened at a very critical period, when there was the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a double loss for them. According to Chowdhury, close to 30 employees lost their earnings following the closure of the business.

He stated that the company offered the employees about two months payment of their salaries and food parcels during the time when they had no source of income.
“Some of the employees have been with the company for over 30 years,” said Chowdhury.

Reinstate

He said they were hoping to reinstate all their employees but if some had found employment, they would be replaced.
Chowdhury said the business has been hit hard and recovering from the current situation would be difficult.

He expressed disappointment in SRA, stating that their plea to remove the food before locking fell on deaf ears as the authority officials refused to entertain them.
A source close to the matter said SRA claimed that they had been frustrated by the latest incident. He said SRA should consider being more diligent and empathetic.
He said they were happy that an independent tax tribunal would be opened soon in the country to look into the interest of the business community.

The respondent (SRA) was interdicted from proceeding with the administrative action for the enforcement of the VAT liability collection in respect of the April 2012 to December 2012 period and directed to lift the seal on and open the applicants’ business operations at shop No.2 Swazi Plaza premises and also to lift the suspension of and unseal the applicants business bank account no. 0200 00661709 held at Nedbank (Swd) Ltd within 30 days.

Director Communications at SRA Vusi Dlamini said it was important to set the record straight in that the revenue administration was empowered by law to invoke distress procedures in cases of delinquent taxpayers.
In this particular case, Dlamini said the taxpayers, after realising what SRA had done, took the matter to court and the court pronounced itself, which is why they opened the taxpayer’s facility today.
However, he stated that they were in the process of appealing the court decision and hence cannot discuss the matter any further in the public domain.

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