뉴질랜드 국세청(IRD), 오클랜드 내 중국음식점 기습 사찰

 

 

지난 크리스마스 휴가 기간 동안 최소한 12개의 오클랜드 소재 중국 음식점이 국세청(IRD)으로부터 ‘깜짝 방문’을 받았던 것으로 밝혀졌다.

 

가뜩이나 불경기에 소득이 떨어지고 있는 중국 요식업계에 큰 충격이었을 뿐만 아니라,  세무조사 대상으로 선정되었다는 서한을 먼저 보내고 방문하는 국세청의 기존 관행과 사뭇 달랐던 기습 사찰이었기 때문에 중국 커뮤니티를 비롯한 아시아 국가 커뮤니티들의 높은 우려를 낳고 있다.

 

전직 국세청 상급 조사관으로서 현재 공인회계사로 일하고 있는 윙 웡(Wing Wong) 씨에 따르면 요식 산업 평균 보다 적게 이윤을 낸 것으로 신고한 업소가 국세청의 주요 목표며, 대체로 수익률이 50% 이하인 경우가 의심을 많이 받게 된다고 말했다.

 

그러나 세원이 제한된 국세청이기 때문에 테이크 어웨이점과 같은 상대적으로 규모가 적은 음식점들도 조사대상에 포함 되었는지 여부는 알 수 없다고 말한다.

 

조사관들이 주로 관심을 갖는 조사 내용은 특히 파트타임 근무자에게 현찰로 임금을 지급하는 등의 방법으로 세금을 포탈한 사실이 있는지 여부와 무상으로 식사를 제공하지 않는지 등이라고 알려졌다. 

 

<출처: 뉴질랜드 헤럴드>

 

 

An Inland Revenue Department crackdown on Chinese restaurants has shocked the Chinese hospitality industry, which says it is struggling to recover from the effects of the recession.

 

In the run-up to Christmas at least 12 Auckland Chinese restaurants received surprise visits from IRD officers, who interviewed all staff.

 

The investigation approach was "unprecedented", said Auckland Chinese Food and Beverage Business Association president Tony Cho.

 

Restaurants that reported profits lower than the industry average were in the IRD's sights, said chartered accountant and former IRD senior investigator Wing Wong.

"It appears that restaurants with a gross profit ratio of 50 per cent or less are being targeted."

 

Medium-sized eateries had so far been in the gun but he expected larger restaurants would also be investigated.

"It is unclear as to whether the smaller food outlets such as takeaways would be similarly targeted as the IRD has limited resources."

 

The IRD's activities have unnerved the Asian business community.

"This is a significant departure from the usual IRD approach of first notifying the taxpayer to be investigated that they have been selected for a tax investigation," he said.

 

In at least one of the surprise visits, IRD staff were reportedly also accompanied by immigration officials and police officers.

It is understood the taxman's key areas of concern are cash wages paid to restaurant staff, particularly part-timers, and staff meals.

 

A Chinese restaurant industry insider said that paying wages under the table was a common practice. The restaurants benefited by not paying PAYE and GST but it was also done because some staff were receiving Work and Income benefits.

A few owners told the Herald on Sunday they would be happy to pay PAYE on all wages but some workers demanded cash and they would struggle to recruit the necessary staff otherwise. However, they also said if they met all their tax obligations their businesses would not be viable.

 

Owners were bewildered when IRD questioned staff about whether they ate while at work, Wong said. They had believed there were no tax implications in providing staff meals.

 

The tax department probably intended to treat the provision of meals as an entertainment expense, he said.

 

Auckland has about 200 Chinese restaurants. Cho said the trade was harder than when he started his takeaway business in the 1970s. Then there was little competition from international fast-food chains such as McDonald's and KFC.

 

Although the local Chinese population was now bigger, there were also many more Chinese restaurants and owners struggled to put up prices.

 

A restaurant was a relatively easy business to start up and that was why many new Chinese immigrants went into the industry.

They appealed to their customers with lower prices and free soup and fruit because the market was so competitive.

"The price of Chinese food, in some instances, is almost similar to the prices charged some 20 years ago even though the cost of running a restaurant has increased considerably."

 

Cho said the IRD investigation might be a "disaster" for some restaurants but the "industry needs to review its operations and the manner in which the businesses are conducted".

By Portia Mao