BIR drafting a bill making tax evasion a heinous crime
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is drafting a proposed legislation making tax evasion an economic sabotage, a heinous crime which is not bailable.
This was disclosed on Wednesday (March 8) by BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay as he gave an update about the on-going validation of Mighty cigarettes with alleged fake stamps at its six warehouses in San Simon, Pampanga
Dulay explained that tax evasion cases listed in the Tax Code are all bailable. The bill being crafted is similar to the Customs Modernization Act which classifies as economic sabotage smuggled goods worth P200 million and more.
He said P500 million or up to P1 billion tax evasion case is being contemplated as a threshold for economic sabotage.
Dulay disclosed he was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to brief them on the initial validation results of alleged untaxed Mighty cigarettes.
Due to lack of manpower, Dulay said tax investigators have yet to finish one warehouse, but claimed cigarette packs with genuine stamps are mixed with fake stamps.
Mighty insisted, however, that all its products bore genuine stamps. It said some of cigarette packs were classified as fake because of faulty taggant readers, or scanners used in the validation.
Dulay said the electronic gadget is reliable , but said it might wrong signal, or red, instead of green light to indicate the tax stamps were genuine due to low battery supply.
The BIR chief also disclosed that Mighty paid deficiency excise tax of more than P200 million from the withdrawal of cigarette products from its factory in Bulacan for the years 2010 to 2012, separate from the on-going tax stamp probe.
He said the BIR expects to collect “just rough estimates of P1 billion” more from the local cigarette company when it complete its validation of fake stamps not only in Pampanga but other warehouses of Mighty in Mindanao and the Visayas.
He said he will allow the compromise settlement of the deficiency taxes, but will consult the Department of Finance about the possible criminal aspect of the case.
Dulay stressed sanctions will be imposed after the bureau completes its verification of cigarette stamps.
