MIRA has conducted an investigation of Hope Holdings, a speedboat ferry service operator under the name “Hope Travels”, on suspicions of tax evasion. The investigation arose from suspicions that the taxpayer has falsified the GST Returns submitted for the periods between 01 July 2020 and 31 May 2023 and Income Tax Returns submitted for the Tax Years 2020 and 2021.
According to MIRA, although Hope Holdings partnership has been registered for GST, their taxable activity “Hope Travels” was operated without registering for GST for a significant period. And within the investigation period the taxpayer failed to report GST exceeding MVR 3 million in GST Returns filed to MIRA. This comprises an under-reporting of revenue amounting to MVR 54 million, which is approximately 89% of the actual reportable revenue. Further, taxpayer has been found to have omitted income amounting to MVR 29 million in Income Tax returns filed for Tax Years 2020 and 2021.
As part of the investigation, MIRA conducted a search operation of the business premises associated with the taxpayer and summon interviews of suspects and witnesses. As reported by MIRA, the case has been forwarded for prosecution against the taxpayer along with one of the partners, Mr. Shahudh Ibrahim Manik and another key person involved in business operations, Mr. Mohamed Ali.
Under Section 64 of the Tax Administration Act, it is an offense to commit any acts, knowingly, intentionally, and with intention to evade, or with the intention to facilitate a taxpayer to evade tax payable under a tax law. MIRA states that it will take action against such offenses as part of its "Tax Crime Mitigation Strategy," aimed at regulating responses to these offenses.
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Tax Crime Mitigation Strategy - MIRA - Maldives Inland Revenue Authority