26 criminal charges have been filed before district and municipal courts against company officials involved in “ghost” money, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said, noting that it will lead to their arrest.
“26 criminal information has been filed before the courts. Arrest warrants will be issued to the concerned officials,” said BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. in a statement on Thursday.
“They will be arrested.”
This comes after the BIR reported that it won two criminal cases against companies and their officials for using fake receipts after the Department of Justice (DoJ) found that they may have been the cause of the violation of the tax code.
The Department of Justice noted that the business officers violated Sections 254, 255, 267 in relation to 253 (d) and 256 of the National Internal Revenue Code.
When a tax case is filed, the government must prove the defendant’s guilt by filing criminal information in order to legally proceed with the case in court.
This is part of the Bureau’s Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) Program, which aims to investigate and prosecute people who use fake receipts.
The RAFT program, led by Mr. Lumagui, was meant to deal with the sale and use of “ghost” receipts in the country. These are receipts that contain fabricated items, which are purchased and used by businesses to avoid paying taxes.
The use of fake receipts is done to avoid paying the 12% value-added tax owed on the sale of goods and services. People can set up “ghost” companies to do fake work and issue false receipts to avoid tax payments.
By 2023, the BIR estimated a revenue loss of up to P370 billion due to ghost receipts.
In February, the DoJ and the BIR filed a total of 14 criminal complaints against 6 people related to two companies using “ghost” receipts.
In July, the BIR said it will expand its relationship with the Securities Exchange Commission to go after large-scale tax fraud by companies such as ghost receipts and corporate tax evasion.
In August 2024, the BIR collaborated with the Ateneo de Manila University-Department of Mathematics to develop a system that will identify companies that may be using such receipts. – Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
Source link