The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed a total of 84 criminal charges against suspected tax cheats before the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the first half of 2021 for refusal to settle tax debts amounting to P3.1 billion.
The BIR also padlocked 274 firms nationwide in a bid to collect delinquent accounts.
In a report to Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel SD. Guballa said many of those establishments closed for underdeclaration of sales, non-issuance of invoices and receipts, and non-registration were allowed to resume operations after paying more than P1 billion in back taxes.
As of the end of June, Guballa said the bureau is also pursuing 17 criminal cases before the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) in order to collect some P1.54 billion under its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program.
The revenue official also reported the confiscation last month of thousands of untaxed heated tobacco and vape products from various shopping malls in Manila.
For the same period, Guballa said they also confiscated more than 27,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes from a warehouse in the compound of the Technology Resource Center (TRC) in Pampanga as well as a motor vehicle, raw materials, and chemicals used in the manufacture of cigarettes.
He said another warehouse at the Global Aseana Business Park in San Simon, Pampanga yielded two million pieces of fake internal revenue stamps, two cigarette-making and packing machines, and raw materials and chemicals.
“The estimated total excise tax leakage from both warehouses is P1.56 billion,” Guballa said.