2 flower shops face tax raps

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed yesterday tax evasion charges worth at least P80.6 million against two flower shops and a Valenzuela-based bottle supplier.

The BIR said its agents found that Flowers by Sylvia and Casa Flores Inc. were not duly registered with the BIR and did not issue duly registered receipts or invoices. Flowers by Sylvia proprietor Sylvia Pimentel and the officials of Casa Flores face a prison term of two to four years and a fine of at least P1,000, the BIR said.

BGC Bottle Dealer Inc. and its president, Estanislao Gonzales, were charged with attempting to evade taxes and failing to file correct information in the firm’s tax returns.

The BIR said BGC underdeclared its sales in its annual income tax return (ITR) and quarterly value-added tax returns for 2011 by P114.45 million.

BGC declared only P9.69 million in sales in its 2011 ITR but third party sources said that its sales amounted to at least P122.8 million that year, according to the BIR.

BGC also declared only a total of P8.35 million in its quarterly VAT returns when the actual sales figure was P122.8 million. The discrepancy, the BIR said, is more than 30 percent and constitutes prima facie evidence of fraud.

According to the BIR, BGC’s deficiency tax liability for 2011, including surcharge and interest, amounted to P80.62 million consisting of P56.56 million in income tax deficiency and P24.06 million in VAT deficiency.