The Bureau of Internal Revenue filed before the Department of Justice,
on Wednesday,
a P9.5-billion tax evasion case against homegrown cigarette
manufacturer Mighty Corp. for allegedly using fake tax stamps to deprive
the government of excise tax payments.
Since late 2014, the BIR has been implementing the Internal Revenue
Stamps Integrated System on tobacco products. These stamps ensure that
the correct excise taxes are paid.
Nongovernment Action for Economic Reforms had pegged Mighty’s tax
liabilities at about P15 billion, based on the volume of cigarette packs
that bore fake stamps earlier confiscated by the BOC and the BIR in
Zamboanga City, Pampanga, General Santos City, Cebu City and Tacloban
City late last month and early this month.
Last week, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda told reporters that Mighty’s
basic arrears could reach up to P25 billion, excluding interest and
penalties for nonpayment of excise taxes.
In a statement, Mighty said it “welcomes the filing by the BIR of the
complaint as it provides us an opportunity to clear our names and show
we violated no tax laws.”
“We will continue to cooperate with government in its continuing effort at tax collection,” Mighty said.
Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay had said that the
proliferation of counterfeit cigarette tax stamps “definitely impact” on
the collection of excise taxes.
Preliminary BIR data showed that total excise tax collections last year rose to P163.5 billion from P158.3 billion in 2015.
Despite the increase in the total excise tax take, collections from
tobacco products declined to P91.6 billion in 2016 from 2015’s P99.5
billion. This was despite higher rates implemented last year than in
2015 under Republic Act No. 10351 or the Sin Tax Reform Law.
In January, the Inquirer first reported that the BIR was
investigating Mighty as its products had been found bearing fake
cigarette tax stamps.
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