Tax evasion charges filed vs ex-chief justice

Posted on August 30, 2012 10:28:19 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]

BY SIEGFRID O. ALEGADO, Reporter

FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE Renato C. Corona, his daughter and son-in-law were yesterday charged by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with tax evasion totaling over ₱150 million.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares told a briefing that Mr. Corona, who was ousted more than two months ago, was charged before the Justice department "for willful attempt to evade or defeat tax and for deliberate failure to file… income tax returns" for the years 2003-2005, 2007-2008 and 2010.

The same evidence -- Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), deeds of sale, and bank accounts -- presented during Mr. Corona’s five-month impeachment trial were indicated by the BIR in its charge sheet.

Mr. Corona on May 29 was found guilty of betraying public trust for failing to declare his true SALN.

His tax deficiency has been set at ₱120.5 million, the BIR said in a statement.

The amount was arrived at "by comparing the increase in his net worth with his reported taxable income over time," it further noted

Also facing tax evasion charges were Mr. Corona’s daughter Ma. Carla Beatriz C. Castillo and husband Constantino T. Castillo III with alleged income tax liabilities of ₱20.24 million and ₱9.93 million, respectively.

The Castillos were dragged into the impeachment trial after the bureau found out that they bought certain properties named after Mr. Corona.

Mr. Corona allegedly earned more than what he declared, Ms. Henares said, noting the discrepancy in his declared income per alphalist (₱26.45 million) and true net worth (₱161.15 million). An alphalist indicates the list of employees, their compensation and taxes withheld.

A taxpayer is not required to file an income tax return (ITR) for purely compensation income under the BIR’s substituted scheme, but other income aside from compensation should be declared, the revenue agency said.

A BIR investigation further showed that Mr. Corona allegedly undervalued three of his properties and underdeclared cash by ₱17.3 million and ₱134.44 million, respectively, as well as failed to declare two other properties valued at ₱12.75 million.

The BIR also said Mr. Castillo supposedly "failed to file his ITR for taxable year 2003… and deliberately understated his ITR in the year 2009," while Ms. Castillo "failed to file an… ITR for the taxable year 2010."

The cases were filed as a result of the BIR’s Run After Tax Evaders program.

Mr. Corona, meanwhile, said he and his family "have long expected" the filing of charges, as they "have been exchanging communications with the BIR and have complied with their deadlines."

"As a man of law, I will abide by the processes… We will respond accordingly…," he said in a text message to reporters, adding that they are awaiting the service of subpoena and complaint.

"By the grace of God, we will overcome. This too will come to pass," Mr. Corona noted.

Mr. Corona was an appointee of then president now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but his assumption to the highest judicial post was rocked by controversy as it was done during an election ban on appointments. The appointment was, however, upheld by the Supreme Court which ruled that its justices are exempt from the constitutional restriction. He was impeached by the House of Representatives in December last year.

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BIR to hire 4,000 accountants, collection agents

Published on 21 August 2012 [ manilatimes.net ]

Written by Raffy Ayeng, Reporter

TO further improve tax collection, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will hire 4,000 more personnel to be deployed in the field, particularly certified public accountants, collection officers and lawyers.

According to BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, the additional workforce will be detailed in mobile offices such as mall kiosks nationwide.

The new personnel will increase the BIR workforce of 12,000 to 16,000.

“We need to hire more people because other than the fact that some employees die, retire and resign, we also have to keep up with the demand brought about by the large and increasing number of taxpayers all over the country,” Henares said.

The bureau is strengthening its Run After the Tax Evaders Program. Given personnel constraints, the agency had focused on “big” tax evaders.

“Of course there are many people that we are running after. It’s just a matter of timing, and prioritizing the big ones. We are only few at the BIR, as compared to the number of taxpayers,” Henares said.

“We have a lot of programs on the table especially in the areas of enforcement, monitoring as well as making payment of taxes easier for the people. In order to either continually compel or encourage them to pay their respective taxes in good faith we have to hire more people to sustain our goals,” she added.

Reymarie de la Cruz, head of the bureau’s tax information and education division, said that the number of registered individual taxpayers as of last year was 18,957,477, compensation income earners numbered 10,254,400 and professional taxpayers, 1,821,599. There were 615,734 corporate taxpayers, and various taxpayers numbering 6.26 million, including estates and trusts; marginal income earners or those who are earning less than P100,000 a year; and those with one-time transactions.

The BIR chief said that the bureau had asked the Department of Budget and Management to allot funding for new hires.

 “This will not be a one-time process. This will be a continuing process, since the applicants have to take a series of examinations including psychological test. Then if they passed, interview will follow through, and then we will come back to them and inform them whether there are available positions waiting for them,” she said.

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Self-employed, professionals boost 2011 tax take

Published on 15 August 2012 [ manilatimes.net ]

Written by RAFFY AYENG REPORTER

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) program to run after self-employed and professional tax-evaders has resulted to an increase in its tax collections in 2011.

According to BIR Commissioner Kim-Jacinto Henares, tax collected from self-employed individuals and professionals in 2011 increased by 37.8 percent to P10.19 billion last year from P7.39 billion in 2010.

“There is still a huge room for growth. Compliance among professionals and the self-employed is still nowhere near where it should be,” she said, adding that the publicized filing against tax evaders was working.

A study by the National Tax Research Center found that salaried Filipinos paid 6 percent of their income as tax on average, as against only 1 percent for self-employed and professionals. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima recently directed BIR to raise the average tax from self-employed and professionals.

The BIR, which accounts for two-thirds of state revenues, is tasked to raise P1.066 trillion this year to help cap the national government budget deficit at P279 billion.

The BIR is mulling mulls to intensify its program to run after minimal taxpayers by sending more personnel who would pose as clients of self-employed individuals and professionals, and identify those who fail to issue receipts.

As of June this year, the BIR’s Run After Tax Evaders Program resulted to the filing of a total of 111 tax evasion cases worth a combined P39.73 billion since the start of the Aquino administration.

The Department of Justice had resolved 26 of these cases, with 14 filed in court. Another 52 cases had been submitted for resolution in various courts. In the first six months of this year, the bureau raised P521.159 billion, or 14 percent short of its P535.357-billion target for the period. 

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