BIR files P8 billion tax raps vs vape companies

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed over tax evasion complaints against vape companies due to alleged evasion of over P8 billion in taxes.

The complaint was filed by BIR Commissioner Romero Lumagui Jr. before the Department of Justice on Tuesday, April 29, against vape firms carrying the brand names Flava, Denkat and Flare.

According to BIR, the firms evaded P8,681,028,850.82 in taxes.

When asked about the excise tax being lost by the government, Lumagui said that it is already a large sum. 

He pointed out that with the continued proliferation of illicit vape products in the market, the estimated total loss likely exceeds the over P8.7 billion already accounted for in the current case filed, potentially reaching billions more.

“Patuloy ang ginagawa natin na pagmanman sa industriya ng vape kaya makakaasa kayo na hindi ito ang huling pagsampa natin ng kaso,” Lumagui said in an interview with reporters. 

(We are continuing our monitoring of the vape industry, so you can expect that this will not be the last time we file a case.)

In addition to tax evasion, the charges filed also include the illegal possession of vape products without the required excise tax under Section 263 of the National Internal Revenue Code, as well as failure to submit excise tax returns (Section 255). 

The BIR said that it seized 560,000 units of vape products in 2024, representing P415 million in unpaid taxes. 

In a separate statement, the BIR said that the unpaid taxes on confiscated cigarettes reached P9 billion in the same year.