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Subject: New BIR wants to settle, not sue Author: By Roy Pelovello [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 04:11:58 07/23/05 Sat Author Host/IP: 203.213.196.36 In reply to: music inside buzz updated report 's message, "RV's False Tax Charge Update: Bad & Good News -" on 04:06:52 07/23/05 Sat +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTE: THIS IS THE ARTICLE RELEASED THE DAY BEFORE THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT CHANGED THE MIND OF THE B.I.R.'s IDEA TO SETTLE. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ New BIR wants to settle, not sue By Roy Pelovello In a sharp departure from the current policy and the tough stance of his predecessor, the new chief at the Bureau of Internal Revenue says he is willing to consider compromises with those charged with tax evasion. BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Bunag told journalists yesterday he has asked the Department of Finance to reconsider its “no-deal” policy, which bars the government from entertaining any deals after a criminal case is filed. In a press briefing yesterday, Bunag said his mandate is to collect more taxes, not to punish tax evaders. “I will be judged at the end of my term on how much (in taxes) I collected, and not how many people I sent to jail,” Bunag said. At the same time, Bunag said he is ready to go after suspected gambling lords by doing lifestyle checks to see if their expenses match their declared income. He said these investigations could go to the extent of finding out what countries the suspects have visited and where their children go to school. “We are not sparing anyone,” Bunag said, noting that not even Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, the President’s son, or her brother-in-law Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, is exempt from the investigation. Program revived Bunag made this remarks as he announced the filing of a P165.5-million tax evasion case against a customs bonded warehouse as part of the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program. Bunag said that as far as he is concerned, RATE was designed to encourage people to pay their taxes. If the taxpayer would offer to settle his tax liability, he asked, why should the BIR refuse the payment? What’s important is that people see that the BIR is serious and means business, Bunag said. If the finance department gives its nod to a compromise, the party concerned must settle his tax liabilities, Bunag said. “We can only talk compromise on two grounds: One, when the assessment is of doubtful validity; and two, when the financial capacity of the taxpayer to pay (is in question),” Bunag said. Former Finance secretary Cesar Purisima put the no-deal policy in place while launching a high-profile campaign against suspected tax evaders, including showbiz personalities such as Richard Gomez, Regine Velasquez and Judy Ann Santos. Purisima, former Customs commissioner Guillermo Parayno and other members of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s economic team resigned on July 8 and urged the President to do the same. Yesterday’s filing of criminal complaint against Mitsuko Philippines Corp., a customs bonded warehouse engaged in the manufacture of Christmas decor, lights and other decorative novelty items for export, marked a revival of the tax campaign under the new officials. Respondents were Yen Chan Liaw and King Lin Leu, officers of the company, for allegedly failing to pay taxes from 1998 to 2002. According to the complaint, Customs documents showed that Mitsuko imported resins worth over P1.5 billion from 1998 to 2002 but failed to file the necessary income tax returns for those years. BIR said the importation should have generated income for Mitsuko. BIR also alleged that Mitsuko failed to file the required withholding tax returns on compensation and expanded withholding tax for the five-year period. Moreover, it was also found that Mitsuko had been using the tax identification number of another company. BIR also said Mitsuko apparently abused its import privileges by importing an excessive amount of resin not for the manufacture of Christmas decor but for other plastic products. With Lawrence Agcaoili [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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[> [> [> Subject: No tax trial yet? Blame BIR, says DoJ Author: By Armand Nocum /Inquirer News Service [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 05:49:54 07/23/05 Sat Author Host/IP: 203.213.196.36 No tax trial yet? Blame BIR, says DoJ First posted 03:44am (Mla time) July 21, 2005 By Armand Nocum /Inquirer News Service Editor's Note: Published on page A2 of the July 21, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer TOP justice department officials yesterday took umbrage at resigned Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima's taking to Malacañng his claim that none of the complaints filed by the finance department's Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program have made it to court in the five months since the RATE started. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the reason why the complaints have not made it to the courts was that they were filed in a haphazard manner and wondered whether the RATE program was just "all for show." The RATE, an intensified program against tax evasion launched last March, has set out to file charges against high-profile tax delinquents every week. Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño blamed the delay on the fact that the evidence in some cases were not complete or lawyers from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) did not appear during preliminary investigations at the Department of Justice (DoJ). In a letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before he resigned last week, Purisima complained of the delay and said the finance department might just decide to file the tax evasion cases before the Court of Tax Appeals or the local courts. "It's their fault. They keep on filing motions to reopen the case even if it is already up for resolution,” said Zuño, citing the RATE's case against popular singer Regine Velasquez. He said motions to reopen the case were being filed because the BIR wants to "present additional documentary evidence.” "Why are they filing these cases if they lack the evidence?” asked Zuño. He reminded the BIR that the DoJ's role was "neutral," its duty being to merely evaluate the cases and hold a preliminary investigation to determine whether the cases should be dismissed or filed in court if warranted by the evidence. He said the DoJ cannot be counted on to gather evidence for the BIR. "We are not engaged in case build-up,” Zuño said. He said it was not that the RATE cases were weak, merely that they were "not sufficient in documentary evidence." But he said the DoJ was speeding up the resolution of some of the cases and would file them in court starting next week. A ranking BIR official said the requirement to file the cases with the DoJ could be done away with as the National Internal Revenue Code empowers the BIR to file tax evasion cases directly with the courts. Tax evasion cases worth less than P1 million are filed either with municipal, metropolitan or regional trial courts, while those involving at least P1 million are filed with the Court of Tax Appeals. The BIR official explained that both the DoJ and fiscal authorities were undergoing a learning process in the handling of criminal cases involving tax evasion. While DoJ lawyers have yet to fully master the handling of relatively complex tax-related cases, the DoF and BIR officials are also undergoing training in building criminal cases, the official said. Before the RATE program, most tax-related cases pursued by the DoF and the BIR were civil in nature. This was because previously the government was inclined to drop criminal charges when the respondents decided to pay the disputed taxes. With a report from Michelle V. Remo [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: No tax trial yet? Blame BIR, says DoJ Author: By Cynthia D. Balana /Inquirer News Service [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 05:55:31 07/23/05 Sat Author Host/IP: 203.213.196.36 BIR resumes drive vs tax cheats First posted 06:01am (Mla time) July 22, 2005 By Cynthia D. Balana /Inquirer News Service Get INQ7 breaking news on your Smart mobile phone in the Philippines. Send INQ7 BREAKING to 386. AFTER a two-week hiatus following the resignation of its head, the Bureau of Internal Revenue Thursday revived its campaign against tax evaders by filing charges against an export company for failure to pay taxes amounting to P165 million over five years. Mitsuko Phil. Corporation, a customs bonded warehouse engaged in the manufacture of Christmas decorations, lights and other novelty items for export, was charged before the Department of Justice for non-filing of income tax returns, withholding tax returns on compensation and expanded withholding tax from 1998 to 2002. Named respondents in the complaint were King Lin Leu, the company president, and Yen Chan Liaw, treasurer. The BIR found out that Mitsuko imported excessive quantities of resins -- the raw material for the manufacture of plastic products -- valued at P1.5 billion during the four-year period. It said resin was not a material used for Mitsuko's Christmas decor products. The BIR also discovered that Mitsuko had been using a tax identification number, 000-697-5110, in various documents filed with the Bureau of Customs which belonged to another company. "The Mitsuko officials' deliberate and repeated failure to file their company's income tax returns demonstrates their willful and unlawful intent not to declare their true income," said BIR commissioner Jose Mario Bunag. He said the Securities and Exchange Commission also confirmed that the company failed to file the necessary general information sheet from 1999 to 2002, and the company's financial statements from 1999 to 2002. BIR assistant commissioner Gerardo Flores said Mitsuko had annual earnings of P22 million and P21 million in 1998 and 1999. This rose to P637 million and P858 million for the taxable years 2001 and 2002, respectively. Flores also said a tipster informed the BIR about Mitsuko's violations. Mitsuko is the 27th corporate entity that has been charged by the BIR for tax evasion under the Operation RATE (Run After Tax Evaders) which was started by former Finance secretary Cesar Purisima. The filing of charges against tax evaders was suspended for two weeks after the BIR commissioner Guillermo Parayno Jr. resigned. Bunag, the BIR assistant commissioner for legal affairs, replaced Parayno. Finance Undersecretary Emmanuel Bonoan said the tax evasion campaign would continue no matter who led the BIR or the finance department. "We have institutionalized the program and we are glad that its existence is not dependent on the personalities at the helm," he said. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]