UIO: Caterers reported 12 million KM higher turnover

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - VAT taxpayers in BiH engaged in catering reported 12 million KM higher turnover in March and April 2019 compared to the same period last year.

In 140 inspections, the taxable threshold was exceeded, and registration procedures into the VAT system were initiated. In the same period, 82 taxpayers engaged in catering voluntarily registered in the VAT system.

These are the first results of inspections that the Indirect Taxation Authority announced at the beginning of April this year and is still conducting, the institution announced.

After the ITA called on all caterers in the VAT system at the beginning of April 2019 to review their previously submitted VAT returns and check if they had reported and paid all obligations in accordance with the law, more amended returns were received by the Authority in just two months than in the entire year 2018.

In the amended VAT returns, caterers mostly increased the amount of their VAT liability.

The announcement of intensified inspections of caterers resulted in a significantly higher reported turnover that taxpayers themselves declared in the VAT return for March, which was submitted by April 10, 2019.

Thus, in March, caterers themselves reported a total turnover of 39 million KM, which is five million KM more than in March 2018, while in April, taxpayers themselves reported a total turnover of 42 million KM, which is 7 million KM more than in April 2018.

Therefore, based on the increased reported turnover of caterers, the VAT liability for March 2019 increased by as much as 45 percent compared to March 2018, while the VAT liability for this group in April 2019 was 30% higher compared to the total VAT paid by caterers in April 2018.

Following the announcement and initiation of intensified inspections by the ITA in the previous three months, 82 taxpayers in BiH engaged in catering voluntarily registered in the VAT system. In 140 inspections, the taxable threshold was exceeded, and registration procedures into the VAT system were initiated.

An inspection of fiscal cash register reports revealed that these taxpayers reported turnover between 30,000 and 40,000 KM in 2018 and had more than two employees.

The ITA reminds that the legal threshold for entering the VAT system is 50,000 KM of taxable turnover annually.

ITA inspectors will continue to conduct intensified inspections of caterers in BiH in July and August 2019, and upon completion of the inspections, the results of subsequently determined liabilities that this group of taxpayers did not report and pay themselves, but will be determined during inspections, will be presented.