By MAHLET MESFIN
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER
The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) paid 1.5 million Br to informants whose information led to the discovery of 109 million Br in unpaid taxes including penalties and interest owed to it by BGI Ethiopia, which has been underreporting its sales; the payment was made after BGI paid a 24 million Br down payment on the money it owes.
The informants had approached the ERCA with information that the company was underreporting its sales volume almost a year ago, according to sources inside the authority who are not authorised to comment.
BGI Ethiopia, the biggest of the five breweries in the country, had been underreporting by as much as 50pc between 1998 and 2001, according to a report of the investigation compiled by the Tax Audit Directorate of the authority.
With an annual capacity of 1.5 million hectolitres (hl), BGI Ethiopia has 48pc of the market in terms of sales.
The investigation team had requested the sales record for previous years, but were told that it had been erased from the company database, which made it difficult to cross check the records, the report further stated.
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