BIR finds new proof versus Tan

The Bureau of Internal Revenue is urging the Department of Justice and the Office of the Solicitor General to appeal the P25.7-billion tax evasion case of businessman Lucio Tan, which it lost due to a technicality before the Court of Appeals.

According to Internal Revenue Commissioner Dakila Fonacier, an ad hoc group he has formed has unearthed new evidence that would pin down the taipan.

The BIR chief said the new set of proofs supports the claim of former BIR Commissioner Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, who originally filed the charges against Fortune Tobacco Corp., Tan’s flagship company.

Fonacier hinted that it would be best for the justice department to file the appeal immediately so it would not be dismissed on a mere technicality.

While the appeal is before the Court of Appeals, the BIR and the justice department would review the new set of evidence.

"There is a need for the BIR to be given additional time to evaluate more thoroughly the evidence in its possession and those with the DOJ," Fonacier said.

In a letter to Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero, Fonacier said that the cases were earlier dismissed by the appellate court because the appeal was filed out of time.

"In the interest of justice, it is felt that mere technicalities should be set aside to give way to a full-blown trial aimed at eliciting the truth," he said.

The filing of the appeal "is a decision that must ultimately be made by the DOJ, without whose support this case will not prosper," Fonacier said.

He also said that "based on these considerations, the BIR strongly recommends that the Solicitor General and the DOJ appeal the criminal cases for tax evasion against the taxpayers."

The BIR has been under pressure to collect more revenues for the government this year to narrow down the budget deficit. As of September, the government’s budget gap ballooned to P82.9 billion, way above the P62.5-billion budget deficit ceiling pledged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for this year.

One of the possible revenue enhancement measures being pushed by the BIR is the resolution tax cases, which include Tan’s P25.7-billion case.

Aside from resolving these cases, the BIR is also pushing for the full computerization of its operations to minimize tax fraud and, at the same time, limit graft and corruption.

The IMF and other major multilateral creditors of the Philippines, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, said better tax administration will be a long-term cure for the government’s bleeding coffers.