KABUL: The government has sealed a leading Kabul restaurant, owned by a foreigner, following a tax notice from the Ministry of Finance.
Marc Victor, proprietor of the L'Atmosphere Restaurant in the Qala-i-Fathullah locality of this capital city, said his business was sealed by officials accompanied by policemen Saturday last.
The action was followed by a notice from the Revenue Department of the Finance Ministry on April 9, 2007.
To register his protest against the government's tax notice, which the owner considers uncalled for, Marc Victor had also gone on a token hunger strike, which he said was ended after assurances from officials.
In an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Victor claimed the ministry had sent him a notice to pay $500,000 in tax, failing which his business would be closed.
"To reach a level of activity that would trigger such an amount of tax, we would have to control more than 80 per cent of the total food service industry business in Kabul over the past three years," said the apparently gloomy manager of the French restaurant.
Contacted for comments, officials at the Finance Ministry confirmed they had closed the property 'for non-payment' of tax; however, they shied away from giving the exact figures claimed in tax supposedly payable by the restaurant owner.
Instead, revenue department officials handed this correspondent a letter mentioning the procedure for tax payment and penalties for non-payment as well as some instances of action taken against local and as foreign entrepreneurs in the past for similar reasons.
The official letter reads that conceding (sharing) any information with media was in disparity with Article 96 of the tax law. However, the department concerned may provide information if the matter is challenged in a court of law.
The letter further says the revenue department has no jurisdiction to close down an entity forever; however, it may seal it till the owner of that entity pays the due amount claimed by the ministry.
It also referred to the closure of two such offices for non-payment of taxes in the previous year and arrest of owners of six more offices on similar grounds.
But the L'Atmosphere owner said he would fight on and challenge the ministry's notice in court on the plea that he had paid all taxes to the ministry since the launch of his business in this investment-shy country.
On a visit to the restaurant, Pajhwok's team found two notices pasted on the wooden door. "This property has been closed by the Ministry of Finance pursuant to Article 100 of the Income Tax Law," reads one of the notices.
Another notice, warning customers against entering the property, tempering or removing anything located there, says: "No business shall be considered at this site until L'Atmosphere Restaurant satisfies its tax obligation and the business closure is lifted by order of the Ministry of Finance."
Standing in front of the restaurant were some 10 boys aged between 20 and 25, who said they were employees getting $130-$500 a month. Among them was a younger boy, named Anayatullah, resident of Kabul.
Speaking to Pajhwok, the boy said he was working as apprentice (trainee waiter) at the restaurant. Apparently satisfied with his job, he said he was getting 3,000 afghanis a month for eight-hour duty besides getting training as bearer.
Earlier, during a chat with Pajhwok, the journalist-turned-restaurateur Marc Victor said they were training 15 Afghan boys, aging between 15 and 18 years, as part of their unique training programme each year.
Victor said he had also written a letter to Finance Minister Anwarul Haq Ahady about the tax row on April 25, but there has been no response so far.
In his letter, copy of which was provided to this correspondent, the owner requested the minister to suspend the figures collected by officials of the revenue department as, according to him, those were 'totally inadequate'.
He also referred to the vast gap between the number of attendants during dinner and lunch hour at the restaurant noted by the ministry's assessment team and the exact figures.
The number hardly reaches 40 to 50 during dinner hour and 15-20 during lunch at the busiest days, but the ministry officials put the number between 100 and 150, says the owner. | 
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