Chinese pay 4m/- fine each, avoid jail, over false EFD entry

FAUSTINE KAPAMA

THREE Chinese have been sentenced to six months in jail or pay a fine of 4m/- each for issuing an Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) receipt showing less money than what was actually paid by the customer, contrary to Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) tax laws.

The three, Liu Songyue, Liu Pengfey and Jiang Zedong, who are the owners of M/S Sen He Co Ltd, were arraigned at the Ilala District Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Issuing the ruling, Ilala Resident Magistrate Juma Hassan said the court has no recollection of previous offences committed by the defendants.

He said the tax law allows the defendants to serve a jail term, pay fine or both.The resident magistrate noted that since the defendants confessed to the charges, they will be required to pay a fine of 4m/- each or face a six months jail term.

Earlier, before sentencing, the defendants’ lawyer, Nahimia Mkoko appealed to the court to have the accused pay the fine since the government is focused on tax collection.

Mkoko noted that if the accused pay the required fine, they will now continue paying government’s taxes as required by the law as they would continue with their businesses.

Reading the charge sheet to the accused earlier, TRA Legal Representative Marcel Busegano claimed that the defendants are faced with charges of issuing false report to the TRA Commissioner General (CG).

Busegano told the court that the accused persons committed the offence on March 12, this year, at Tabata Shule, Ilala District, at M/S Sen He Company Ltd in rooms 11,12 and 13.

Busegano claimed that the accused issued a receipt from an EFD machines owned by the company to a customer, Mwise Wambura, that showed a transaction of 200,000/- instead of the actual 550,000/- paid by the customer.

TRA officers visited the company for inspection purposes and found out that the company’s owners evaded tax by pretending that they had received the amount shown on the EFD receipt.

The inspection also revealed that part of another sale of clothes amounting to 350,000/- were not entered into the EFD machines, Busegano explained. The accused persons paid the fine and avoided the six-month jail term.