BIR raps 14 taxpayers for unpaid P4 billion

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has filed tax evasion cases against 14 taxpayers for their failure to pay taxes, some dating back to 2010, worth nearly P4 billion.

The BIR Revenue Region 6 in the City of Manila on Friday filed separate criminal charges against 14 taxpayers for willful failure to pay taxes amounting to P3.86 billion in total before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Charged for violating Section 255 of the Tax Code are 11 corporations, namely, 2971 Foods Inc., Almatel Construction Services Inc., Bigtime Express Trading Inc., East Manila Consumer Inc., Elence Marine and Industrial Corp., F&H Hard Earned Corp., Golden Visions Freight and Cargo Handlers Inc., Norwegian Star Corp., Pencypher Trading Inc., Petroleum Technology and Research Corp., and Simple Living Sales International Corp.

Similar charges were slapped against three sole proprietors including Hazelyn Albano Panlilio of H.A. Panlilio Trading, Jasmin Dapula Abdon of Pointersome Enteprises, and Leslie Mendoza Tuazon.

Based on data, Bigtime Express Trading and East Manila Consumer owed the largest liabilities worth P1.76 billion and P1.36 billion, respectively. Bigtime Express Trading, as well as Tuazon, have the oldest tax obligations dating back to 2010.

The BIR said it has conducted collection and enforcement strategies with the issuance of the preliminary collection letters and warrants of distrait, as well as levy and garnishment that proved futile as the afore-cited assessments remained unpaid.

“The respondents’ failure and continued refusal to file or pay their long overdue deficiency taxes, despite repeated demands, constitute willful failure to file or pay the taxes due to government,” the BIR said.

According to the agency, the 14 criminal lawsuits form part of the 975 cases filed by the agency against tax evaders under Commissioner Caesar Dulay through the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program.

Last year, the BIR filed a total of 137 cases to go after P4.39 billion in aggregate liabilities under the RATE program.

This was lower in terms of number of cases compared to 2020 when the BIR pursued 181 charges before the DOJ and the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) to regain P8.2 billion in back taxes from evaders.

As the lead agency for the RATE program, the BIR presses charges before the DOJ and CTA to force tax evaders to pay up their financial dues.