91. Powers of the VAT officers.—

(1) An Officer of VAT, duly authorised in this respect, and for authorised purposes, may, through service of a notice, ask for the following information from any person, namely:—

(a)  necessary information relating to any person for conducting the audit and the investigation; or

(b) any document or evidence under the custody of any person.

(2) Such an authorised VAT officer shall have the following powers, namely:—

(a) to make copies of any record;

(b) to seize any record in the prescribed manner;

(c) to seal any record or good; and

(d) to take steps, in the prescribed cases and manner, to freeze bank accounts of any person.

(3) In relation to the seizure of any record, document or a good, those shall be returned, under such procedure as may be prescribed, to such person from whom they were seized.

(4) If a person lawfully claims any special right or privilege over any document or any other evidence, which the authorised VAT officer requires to seize or examine, the documents over which such special right or privilege is claimed shall be put into an envelope which shall then be sealed jointly and sent to the Board to determine whether the documents in question carry special right and are privileged or not.

(5) No entry shall be made or search conducted, under any provision of this Chapter, into any premises of a diplomatic, consular or other mission of a foreign country or international organisation which enjoys immunity from such entry or search under international law.

Explanation: In this section, “authorised purpose” means—

(a) collection of information for fixing the tax liability of any person;

(b) collection of information for collecting tax from any person;

(c) identification of tax evasion; or

(d) ensuring compliance with the provisions of this Act.