Legaspi denies P4.45-million tax raps in DOJ

MANILA, Philippines - Actor-director Zoren Legaspi appeared at the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday and denied the P4.45-million tax evasion charge filed against him by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) last month. 

Assisted by lawyer Ricardo Ribo, Legaspi submitted and subscribed to his counter-affidavit, wherein  he said he never intended to evade payment of taxes and offered to just settle his tax deficiency, if any.

In the complaint, the BIR alleged that Legaspi avoided paying P4.45-million taxes in 2010 and 2012.

Legaspi said if there was any lapse in his tax payment, the blame should be on his accountant. He said he is an “ordinary taxpayer” who relies “on the work of the accountant and have no actual knowledge of the inaccuracy or falsity of its return.”

Multiple TINs

As to the issue involving his allegedly having four different tax identification numbers (TINs), Legaspi did not tackle this in his answer to the DOJ since it was not covered by the complaint of the BIR. 

He told reporters that he only has one TIN and the other numbers mentioned by his accountant belong to his namesakes. 

Legaspi said it was him who even pointed out such “discrepancy” to his accountant Flora Cabili, who revealed during a hearing last May 28 that there were four TINs appearing in the actor’s tax documents. 

Assistant State Prosecutor Stewart Allan Mariano did not allowed Cabili’s statement on record, saying she was testifying on her own personal belief without a lawyer.