Megaworld says it has no closure order from BIR chief
Megaworld Corp. said the company had no pending closure order from the government's chief tax collector as the publicly-listed property firm maintained it paid all its obligations with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
In a statement Wednesday, May 18, Megaword said that the fiasco over the reported issuance of a closure order against the company was due to “an initial disagreement” with the BIR Regional Office covering south National Capital Region (NCR).
“Megaworld has not received any closure order duly approved by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue,” the company said, referring to BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay, who is currently on leave.
The real-estate firm further clarified that “Records with the BIR will confirm that Megaworld has no outstanding or unpaid past tax liabilities needing any enforcement action.”
Moreover, Megaworld added that “It is being regularly audited by the Large Taxpayers Service of the BIR Head Office, and all its tax returns up to taxable year 2020 have been examined, and all previous deficiency assessments have already been paid for by the company and duly cleared by the BIR Head Office.”
Megaworld, however, revealed that the BIR Regional Office 8-B had sought a tax audit of certain properties owned by the company.
“We raised some issues with regard to their jurisdiction on conducting tax audit of some of our properties, but the matter has been clarified and resolved yesterday ,” Megaworld noted.
In the end, the company assured that it will cooperate fully with all the pending tax audits of the BIR.
“The company continues to maintain its stance of full cooperation with the tax authorities in accordance with their mandate to collect badly needed revenues for the Government,” Megaworld said.
On Tuesday, the tax bureau released a media advisory that sent Megaworld stocks on a rollercoaster.
The BIR had requested media coverage on the "issuance of closure order against Megaworld Corporation" on May 18, without providing additional information.
The BIR, however, retracted the media advisory hours after it was released, saying the issuance of a closure order against Megaword was “held in abeyance until further notice.”
"The activity tomorrow (May 18, 2022) is being held in abeyance until further notice. Representatives from Megaworld Corporation manifested their full cooperation with all the requirements of the Bureau of Internal Revenue," BIR Regional Director Eduardo Pagulayan Jr. said.
“The company continues to maintain its stance of full cooperation with the tax authorities in accordance with their mandate to collect badly needed revenues for the Government,” Megaworld said.
On Tuesday, the tax bureau released a media advisory that sent Megaworld stocks on a rollercoaster.
The BIR had requested media coverage on the "issuance of closure order against Megaworld Corporation" on May 18, without providing additional information.
The BIR, however, retracted the media advisory hours after it was released, saying the issuance of a closure order against Megaword was “held in abeyance until further notice.”
"The activity tomorrow (May 18, 2022) is being held in abeyance until further notice. Representatives from Megaworld Corporation manifested their full cooperation with all the requirements of the Bureau of Internal Revenue," BIR Regional Director Eduardo Pagulayan Jr. said.