THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has filed a total of 347 tax liability complaints with an estimated worth of P24.02 billion in 2019 as part of the Duterte administration’s campaign against tax evaders, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday.
In a statement, the DOF said the tax complaints were filed before either with the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).
“This is the first time that the bureau has filed this many complaints for tax evasion against various individuals and corporations,” BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa said.
In a report to Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the BIR said that under its Run After Tax Evaders program, 309 cases for preliminary investigation were filed by the bureau with the DOJ last year for tax liabilities of various individuals and corporations estimated at P19.06 billion combined.
The number of tax cases filed with the DOJ increased by 56.85 percent from 197 cases filed by the BIR in 2018 involving some P15 billion worth of tax liabilities, according to Guballa.
In the CTA, the BIR has filed 38 cases for tax liabilities worth P4.94 billion combined, or more than triple the 12 cases filed before the tax appeals court in 2018, the BIR official said.
Guball said cases filed with the CTA involving close to P5 billion in tax liabilities represent a 480.67 percent increase over the estimated P851.57 million in taxes that the BIR had hoped to collect in 2018 through litigation.
As of Dec. 31 last year, the BIR has 118 tax-related cases pending before the CTA, he added.
The BIR also collected a total of P1.92 billion from January to December 2019 under its Oplan Kandado program as a result of the temporary closure of 743 establishments for various violations of the National Internal Revenue Code.
The BIR’s performance under the program in 2019 represents a 218.88 percent improvement over its 233 closures of establishments reported in 2018 and a 140.76 percent increase in collections amounting to P799.47 million during that year.
In 2017, the Duterte administration collected more than P30 billion from errant cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. for the non-payment of excise taxes and for use of counterfeit tax stamps – the biggest sum on record raised by the government from a tax settlement with a single corporate taxpayer. (GMA News)
