BIR to go after firms in tax scam

DAVAO CITY -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is determined to go after individuals and companies involved in the multibillion-peso tax credit certificate (TCC) scam.

BIR Commissioner Dakila Fonacier said this yesterday as he noted that the bureau will still insist on collecting unpaid taxes from those linked to the controversy, including oil companies such as Petron and Pilipinas Shell.

"The BIR will go after those involved in the tax credit scam because as far as we are concerned, these companies and these people have tax liabilities that have to be paid," Fonacier said.

The BIR chief explained, though, that they are having a hard time determining the accountabilities of those implicated in the scam since this aspect was not within the duties of the special task force President Estrada formed to investigate the anomaly.

The alleged scam stemmed from wholesale issuance of TCCs by the Department of Finance's One Stop Shop Inter-Agency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center (OSS) to companies and individuals.

The TCCs served as refunds of assessed taxes, and although those who got them could not convert the certificates to cash, they could transfer them to other firms.

At least P4.5 billion of fraudulent TCCs have been accounted for, but the Special Presidential Task Force 156 which is conducting a probe on the scam said the figure could reach over P8 billion.

Among those already charged in court for the anomaly were former Finance Undersecretary Antonio Belicena and former OSS officials Raul de Vera and Brandy Marzan.

A Filipino-Chinese couple who have been linked to the scam, on the other hand, has reportedly offered a P534-million settlement. They allegedly received some P2.35 billion worth of fake TCCs.

Also, three bus companies operating in Metro Manila have been found to have received fraudulent TCCs.

The Department of Justice said it has recommended that charges be filed against JAM Liner, AMA Transport Services, and Juaymah Maureen Transport for having acquired spurious TCCs amounting to P25.4 million.

Justice Undersecretary Antonio Llorente said the three companies were not entitled to tax incentives.

Despite the controversy, Fonacier said genuine TCCs were still being honored by the bureau. He explained that some P800 million worth of certificates have been validated by the BIR and another P700 million were now being assessed.

These TCCs, he said, were given to semiconductor manufacturers.

Meanwhile, the BIR is confident that it will exceed its collection target for this month as individual taxpayers are expected to come in droves and file their income tax returns (ITRs) until Monday, April 17.

Fonacier said the bureau has shown promising performance the last three months when it exceeded its goal by four percent. He said they collected a total of P82.882 billion while aiming only to amass P79.163 billion.

At present, the BIR has its "Tax Tulungan Centers" which help tax payers in filing their ITRs. The centers answer all tax-related queries and are open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. even this Saturday and Sunday. They accept tax payments and even no-payment returns.

Taxpayers can also go to commercial banks to file their ITRs.

"The BIR has opened more filing centers nationwide at taxpayers' convenience to encourage them in filing their income tax earlier to avoid penalties, long queues, and errors in computation," Fonacier said. -- With Delon Porcalla