The latest data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue shows that the BIR, being the government’s main revenue agency providing 70 percent of its income, is eyeing to collect P39.73 billion from 111 tax evasion cases filed at the Department of Justice, including those of former General Carlos Garcia and his brother in law Edgardo Yambao, and former Congressman Prospero Pichay, Jr., in order to reach its highest ever collection target of P1.066 trillion.
Of the 111 tax evasion cases, the Justice department has resolved 26 with 24 having been filed in various courts with 33 waiting for assignment or still undergoing a preliminary investigation.
Furthermore, some 52 cases have already been submitted for resolution including those of former AFP comptroller Garcia who, along with his wife Clarita, is accused of plunder and alleged to have failed to properly declare and pay taxes in 2004.
The BIR said that the general and wife earned an income of P273 million in 2004 but have a tax deficiency of P235.8 million.
Meanwhile, the BIR’s case against Yambao stemmed from his alleged failure to file his income tax returns for taxable years 1999 and from 2001 to 2005 despite his making several substantial deposits in several banks and acquiring properties of significant value.
According to the BIR, Yambao has a total income tax deficiency of P285.7 million.
Pichay, a former Congressman from Surigao and former chairman of the Local Water Utilities Administration, is said to have recorded a substantial increase in his income when he became chairman of the water utility in 2008, which he then used to acquire real estate properties and even a private airplane.
However, according to the BIR’s investigation, Pichay did not file any income tax return for taxable year 2009, when he would have been liable for P32 million. — DVM, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
