Fifteen criminal cases against 69 respondents allegedly involved in the use of "ghost receipts" with total tax liability of P1.8 billion were filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. led the filing of the cases.

The BIR's Run After Fake Transactions Task Force accused the respondents of violating the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), particularly, for tax evasion under Section 254; failure to supply correct and accurate information in the Income Tax Return (ITR) and Value Added Tax (VAT) returns under Section 255; perjury under Section 267; and making false records or report under Section 257.

Copies of the complaints were not available as of posting.

Lumagui said those named respondents in the complaints were the alleged buyers and sellers of ghost receipts including corporations, corporate officers and accountants.

He said the respondents are involved in various industries such as construction, hardware, marketing of goods, equipment, office supplies, automotive oils, trading of metals, contractor of electrical and mechanical systems, hotel, and food services.

"Di namin titigilan ito. Magpatuloy ang pagsasampa namin ng kaso. (We will not stop. We will continue to file such cases),” Lumagui told journalists covering the DOJ.

“Kaya ganyang karami ang sinampahan natin ay gusto rin natin mabago ang kalakaran dito (The reason we filed charges against many respondents is because we want to put a stop to this scheme),” he said

 “We really want to change tax payers behavior na hindi na pwede ang ganitong kalakaran dahil malaki ang nawawalang buwis dito (because this kind of scheme is not allowed since the government lose a lot of taxes),” he added.

He then identified one of the respondents in the 15 cases as a popular construction firm.

“Itong construction firm na ito ay ‘yung Gilmarc Construction. Nakita natin na malaki ang naging transaksyon nito ginamit na ghost receipts (This construction firm is the Gilmarc Construction. We found that it has large transactions using ghost receipts),” Lumagui said.

He disclosed that Gilmarc Construction's transactions involving ghost receipts have reached around P600 million.

In the meantime, he said the BIR continues to investigate the construction firm and all other corporations for the alleged use of ghost receipts.

Gilmarc Construction could not be contacted for comment as of posting. Manila Bulletin would publish its answer to the complaints once officially filed with the DOJ.

“Itong fake transactions o ghost receipts makikita ninyo ang tagal-tagal na nito. Decades na ang tinakbo ng kalakaran na ito at ngayon lang nahuli. At marami ang kinakailangan na isurveillance dito, imbestigasyon dito (These fake transactions or ghost receipts have been taking place for a long time. This scheme has been happening for decades but it is only now that it is being discovered. Many surveillance and investigations have to take place),” he pointed out.

He disclosed that the BIR already has a list of fake corporations that have been found issuing fake receipts.

“Rehistrado ang korporasyon na ito sa SEC. Rehistrado rin sa amin sa BIR (These fake corporations are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. They are even registered with the BIR). They are going through the process of registration at kumukuha ng resibo pero walang produktong binebenta ito at walang serbisyong binebenta at talagang binebenta nila itong mga resibong ito (and they get receipts but they sell nothing except for these ghost receipts),” he said. 

 “Maraming negosyante ang suki d’yan, mga bumibili kaya nga patuloy ang pag-aaudit natin (There are many businesses which have become patrons of these and buy fake receipts that’s why we continue to conduct audits),” he stressed. 

The commissioner said the cases filed by the BIR was the third batch of complaints concerning ghost receipts.

The first complaint was filed before the DOJ last March 16 against fake corporations that have been issuing ghost receipts and has led to an P18 billion tax loss.

The second complaint was filed last June 21 against four large corporations that have been buying ghost receipts with P25.5 billion tax loss to the government.

“Submitted for resolution na. Hinihintay na lang natin resolution ng DOJ patungkol d’yan (The first and second batches of cases have been submitted for resolution. We are just waiting for the DOJ to issue resolutions on these cases),” Lumagui said.