Tax court orders arrest of ex-MWSS exec

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has ordered the arrest of a former board member of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) over a P4-million tax evasion suit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In a two-page resolution, the CTA’s third division of CTA found merit in the case filed by the DOJ last March against Lorenzo Sulaik and set bail at P20,000. The DOJ received a notice of the resolution Sept. 23.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue charged Sulaik in December 2010 with “deliberate and willful failure to file income tax returns (ITRs)” in 2008 and 2009. The DOJ found that while he was a member of the governing board of the corporate and regulatory office of MWSS, he earned P3.2 million and P4.5 million in those respective taxable years but did not pay the correct taxes amounting to P4.051 million, inclusive of surcharges and interests.