Lechon maker asks Capitol to pay unsettled accounts

CEBU, Philippines - The management of Zubuchon has asked the Provincial Government of Cebu to pay for dozens of lechons reportedly ordered by the previous governor which payment remains unsettled until now. 

This after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) posted a full page advertisement in a national daily with a title "Do the Top Lechon Places Pay their Taxes?"

In the ad of BIR, it identified Zubuchon as among the top lechon makers in the country which was inconsistent in paying taxes.

With this, Zubuchon is asking for the Provincial Capitol to pay for lechons, ordered by the "previous sitting governor", so they can pay for the "donor's tax" indicated by the BIR. 

According to the online blog of Joel Binamira, business owner of  Zubuchon, the previous governor had ordered dozens of lechons from the company for visiting dignitaries, members of Congress, celebrities, among others, and in most cases, the company waited months to pay them.

"But now it's gotten a bit ridiculous, with accounts receivable running some 18 months or more. Please pay us now. We already paid VAT and other related taxes on those sales and you have the nerve to stiff us for the price of a dozen lechons while your government cousins at the BIR seem intent on insulting us in public?" it said.

"And worse, they are probably going to tell us we have to pay tax on all the food aid we gave up north to storm victims!? So if the Governor's office pays us, we can pay the BIR the donors tax. Ridiculous. Just frigging ridiculous," it added.

The blog also noted that even before it had a restaurant, its office crew cooked and donated almost a dozen lechons to President Benigno Aquino's visits in Cebu in January 2010 to raise campaign funds during his presidential election.

"I now wonder if I was supposed to pay a donor's tax on that or were the folks who organized the event supposed to pay that and did they pay that?" asked Binamira.

Further, Binamira dared the BIR to check on all the taxes due, if any, on those types of fundraising activities.

"If you want a daang matuwid (straight path) then make sure your government lieutenants charged with collecting all taxes do their jobs in a fair, factual and comprehensive manner, is all I can ask for," it said.

Zubuchon was established as a corporation in Cebu very late 2009, but only opened its first restaurant in June of 2011.

Based on the blog, in 2012, Zubuchon reported sales of P24 million and paid P2.99 million in output taxes, got credit for P1.87 million in input VAT taxes due to the heavy purchase of equipment, construction, rentals, among others and paid a net VAT of P1.12 million.

In 2013, after it opened a larger outlet and a snack bar at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, it reported close to P60 million in sales for the first 11 months through November.

On these sales, it paid a total of P7.2 million in VAT output tax, got credit for P3.1 million in VAT input tax, and paid a net VAT of P4.1 million, with December still unreported.

"So please folks at the BIR, if you are going to take a swipe at folks you think are remiss in their tax payments, at least make sure you have the facts, and not twist a single data point to make your idiotically weak and now less credible slap much more effective," stressed in the blog site.

"I am with you in that all businesses should pay their fair share of taxes, but when you take these ads out that cast aspersions and insults on companies and entrepreneurs, make sure you take aim at those that deserve it," the statement added.

Zubuchon claimed that in Cebu City, it ranked 6th or 7th in number of pigs slaughtered while other companies slaughter up to 11 times the number of pigs they did but are not included in the list of top lechon places.

"And the data up top is just for Cebu, what about Manila? And the ad seems to cover mostly purveyors in Manila and Cebu, do they not darn well enjoy their lechons in Bacolod? Bulacan? Batangas?" it added. (FREEMAN)