VAT registration is officially provided by the government free of charge. However, when I went to the Mirpur VAT Circle to obtain VAT registration, I was told that the process would take a considerable amount of time. As I urgently needed the VAT registration certificate for my consultancy work, a female government official from that office told me that the registration could be completed within two days if I paid money. I asked her what I needed to do. She told me that she would take me to a secretary and that I would have to pay him BDT 10,000. She further said that if I called him, the work would be completed immediately. That night, I met the said secretary through the female official.