BIR files P796-M tax evasion case vs illegal cigarette traders
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has filed criminal cases against two large-scale illicit cigarette operations that have cost a government that is trying to contain its budget deficit at least P796.95 million in estimated revenue losses.
In a statement, the BIR said that tax evasion cases were filed before the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on July 1 against the people behind illicit cigarette operations in Valenzuela City and San Rafael, Bulacan.
The bureau charged the lessee of a warehouse located in Barangay Ugong, Valenzuela City, for the unlawful possession of excisable goods. According to the BIR, it found 600 master cases of untaxed cigarettes in the warehouse in November last year. The total tax liability in this case is estimated at P200.7 million.
A separate case was also lodged before the CTA against a Chinese national believed to be operating an illegal cigarette manufacturing facility in San Rafael, Bulacan.
The BIR said the tax deficiency in the Bulacan case was estimated at P596.2 million. The liabilities stemmed from the discovery of 7,844 master cases of illicit cigarettes and manufacturing paraphernalia in the facility.
In its complaint, the BIR charged the Chinese national for multiple violations of the Tax Code. This included Section 260 (unlawful possession of cigarette tipping paper or filter tips), Section 263 (unlawful possession of excisable articles without tax payment) and Section 265-B (illegal possession of manufacturing equipment for cigarette production).
155 workers rescued
A separate human trafficking case was also filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police after 155 trafficked workers were rescued from the Bulacan facility.
“We will raid warehouses, seize illicit products and equipment, file criminal charges, and ensure arrests,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said in a statement.
Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that BIR collections reached P242.7 billion in May. This represented a 10.71 percent year-on-year growth driven by receipts from corporate income tax, personal income tax, excise tax on tobacco products, taxes on government securities and levies on banks and financial institutions.
Since the beginning of the year, the BIR has raked in P1.35 trillion in revenues, growing by 13.8 percent.
The BTr attributed the BIR’s performance in May to “intensified collection effort, strengthened campaign against fake transactions, ongoing digital transformation, and continued crackdown on illicit tobacco trade.”
