DOJ orders filing of tax evasion charges vs Ligot, wife

Manila, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday ordered the filing of tax evasion charges against military comptroller Jacinto Ligot and his wife Erlinda.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said there is probable cause in filing the tax evasion case against the Ligot couple based on the complaint of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The BIR last March charged the Ligot couple with evading payment of taxes totaling P428 million.

After preliminary investigation, the DOJ agreed with the BIR’s allegations of non-payment of tax and five counts of non-filing of income tax returns (ITRs) for taxable years 2001 to 2004 against the couple.

“It is crystal clear that respondents willfully evaded payment of taxes on income derived from sources outside their employment for the years 2001 to 2004,” Assistant State Prosecutor Stewart Allan Mariano said.

The DOJ dismissed the defense of the retired general that he did not file his income tax for those years since they were already covered by his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) in the military.

The prosecutors said Ligot failed to manifest his undeclared income.

“Respondent Jacinto Ligot’s SALNs bound him from denying the fact that he did not declare all his income, expect wages and salaries from the military.

“For taxable years in question, records show that respondent paid only income tax due on his compensation income. It is therefore manifest that he did not pay income tax due on his other undeclared income,” it explained.

As for Erlinda, the DOJ also dismissed her claim that she was just a housewife with no personal source of income to pay any taxes.

“Despite the fact that she was a housewife, (Mrs. Ligot) is likewise obligated also to file income tax return for income derived, and pay the corresponding taxes thereon,” the prosecutors explained.

The DOJ also junked the claim of the couple that the complaint against them was “based on imaginary bank deposits and properties in the names of other people” and the BIR had wrongfully applied the “band and expenditure” method.

“It is no longer necessary for the BIR to prove the fact that respondents derived income from sources outside their employment, i.e. ownership of business, and that the deposits they made to their bank accounts are apparently beyond their compensation, and therefore under-declared income,” the prosecutors said.