MANILA, Philippines - The woes of Mighty Tobacco Corp. are far from over as the Bureau of Customs has reportedly slapped the Bulacan-based cigarette firm an additional P216 million in duties for alleged illicit importation activities.
Sources said the amount could go higher as the Bureau of Customs’ Post Entry Audit Group has has yet to complete its investigation into Mighty which covers importations done in the past three years.
Customs Public Information chief Charo Logarta-Lagamon said she could not confirm the figure as the audit remains ongoing.
The audit is aimed at determining whether Mighty paid the appropriate duties and taxes following huge discrepancies between tax-paid volumes and retail sales.
Last Jan. 17, the BOC shut down Mighty’s customs bonded warehouse after initial findings showed the company committed serious violations of the Tariff and Customs law.
The closure was necessary to prevent the government from further revenue leakage while the investigation is ongoing.
According to the BOC, the suspension would also compel the low-cost cigarette maker to declare every single imported item it was supposed to use in the production of cigarettes for the domestic market.
The BOC demanded payment of P852.9 million in duties for the importation of raw materials. Mighty did not contest the assessment and paid the amount in February. This was on top of the P4.42 billion in excise taxes that the Department of Finance claimed was due to the government.
Mighty Corp. executive vice president Oscar P. Barrientos refuted the P216 million in duties allegedly imposed by the BOC.and reiterated that all transactions of the company are above board.
“Not true. It’s business as usual,” he said,
Another official at Mighty said “Customs assessment is just part of a regular liquidation process.”
Abarrientos said the company would continue to cooperate with authorities pending full completion of the audit.
The BOC audit stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Finance Department amid complaints from the business community.
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