BIR intensifies crackdown on erring business establishments

Value Point Superstore has been fined P1.5 million for violations of internal revenue regulations as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) intensified its crackdown on erring business establishments in Metro Manila.

The BIR also revealed yesterday that a raid of prominent wine and liquor stores uncovered over 2,500 bottles of untaxed alcoholic beverages even in pricey upper-class stores.

Value Point is a chain of supermarkets and department stores around Metro Manila. Its branch located along Alabang-Zapote Road in Las Piñas was caught violating BIR regulations.

In a raid headed by Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho himself, Value Point was caught not issuing receipts, a violation that meted out some P1 million in fines two weeks ago, after being fined for P500,000 in October last year.

According to BIR sources, Value Point was fined the initial P500,000 last year for using unregistered cash machines and P49,000 for "lesser" violations like non-recording of daily sales.

In the raid this month, Value Point was caught the second time for using 24 unregistered cash machines.

"If these business establishments do not comply with the most basic requirement of doing business, what greater crime are they committing when they declare their level of sales and incomes for tax purposes?" Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno said.

The BIR admitted in a statement that it was possible that Value Point officials were in connivance with BIR personnel since the first offense was not enforced when it was issued.

Aside from the merchant establishments, the BIR said it has also begun examining wine and liquor stores and discovered the proliferation of untaxed alcoholic beverages which were subject to excise taxes.

According to Parayno, the BIR also visited PriceSmart in Fort Bonifacio, Global City in Taguig and found over 2,000 bottles of wines and liquor without the auxiliary labels indicating that taxes had been paid.

Parayno said the BIR also visited Ralph Wines, another high-end store, and found "several hundred" bottles also without the label. Two more raids in two other stores – Arellano Wine in Bel-Air Makati and the Bel-Air branch of Ralph Wines and Spirits – were found selling bottles of untaxed wines and spirits.