Palace backs BIR in drive vs high-profile tax evaders

Nothing to do with politics.

Malacañang expressed its support for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in its campaign against suspected tax evaders, a day after actor Richard Gomez was slapped with tax evasion charges.

President Arroyo likewise dismissed claims made by Gomez that the tax evasion charges against him were "politically motivated."

Mrs. Arroyo told the BIR to proceed in the filing of the charges and present the evidence in court.

"I will just ask the BIR (officials) to bring all the documents...they will be the ones to answer that question," she said.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said BIR Commissioner Guillermo Parayno had explained that Gomez was charged with no other motivation than collecting the proper taxes from the actor.

"I just heard the interview of Commissioner Parayno and the point of the BIR is clear," Bunye said. "What we are talking about here is whether Richard filed his income tax return or not."

Bunye said Gomez could simply present his income tax returns to clear his name "but if he’s not able to show anything, then he has a problem."

For his part, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the case of Gomez should serve as a warning to the public that the government is determined to collect the proper taxes from every individual or corporate entity.

Gomez was charged for allegedly failing to file income tax returns from 2000 to 2003.

Parayno said Gomez was tagged by the BIR’s computer tracking system for failing to file income tax returns during the period.

He said the only BIR transaction Gomez made was the payment of documentary stamp tax of P786,795 in November 2003 in acquiring a Forbes Park property worth more than P52 million.

Gomez – Richard Frank Icasiano Gomez in real life – had met with BIR officials through his bookkeeper and accountant and claimed that he had no income for 2003 and "did not earn anything in 2000 and 2001."

Parayno, however, claimed the BIR’s automated system showed Gomez earned "substantial amounts of money from 2000 to 2003" but "deliberately did not pay the corresponding taxes for his earnings."

Gomez had denied the accusation, claiming the complaint was in reprisal for his support of the late Fernando Poe Jr.’s failed presidential bid last year.

But Ermita maintained Gomez was not singled out by the government. He said the government had only showed tenacity in running after suspected tax evaders.

"We are not only after those in the entertainment business, there are also a lot of businessmen and professionals who do not pay their correct taxes," Ermita said.

"This (Gomez’s tax evasion case) should serve as (a lesson) to other people, you might be on the BIR list of tax cheats," he said.

Ermita warned the BIR keeps a list of suspected tax evaders but it so happened that Gomez got a lot of media attention since he is a prominent actor.

Ermita denied claims that the government was using the tax evasion case to get even with Gomez.

The actor had allied himself with deposed President Joseph Estrada and the mainstream opposition.

Gomez was appointed by Estrada to be his youth adviser during his short-lived administration, which ended in 2001 after a military-backed popular uprising ousted the former leader following allegations of massive corruption.

Gomez backed Poe’s bid for the presidency in last year’s election. Poe – a close friend of Estrada – had accused Mrs. Arroyo, who won by less than a million votes, of cheating in the polls.

"The President does not have to order this... The government has an ongoing campaign against tax evaders and cheats as part of its administrative measures. She still wants unity and reconciliation," Ermita said.

"He (Gomez) should not take it very badly, I think he can explain himself to the BIR," he said.

Gomez joins the growing list of celebrities and prominent figures accused of tax evasion in the government’s ongoing crackdown on tax cheats.

The government, in its effort to maximize tax collection and address its huge budget deficit, recently filed tax evasion charges against basketball star Paul Asi Taulava, fitness guru Tina Juan and beauty expert Joel Mendez.