P178-million tax evasion cases filed vs shoemaker – BusinessWorld Online
THE DEPARTMENT of Justice (DoJ) has filed 34 criminal charges against a Philippine-based shoe company before the Court of Appeals over its alleged tax deficiencies worth P178.8 million, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said.
“We thank Secretary Remulla and the entire DoJ prosecution team for their swift and decisive action against [the company] and their use of Ghost Receipts,” Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. said in a statement.
The BIR said it found these fraudulent practices through its Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) Program, which targets the use of fictitious receipts issued by non-existent or ghost companies.
The scheme used by the company to evade the correct payment of taxes and misrepresentation in its tax filings covers taxable years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The BIR said the information impleaded the firm’s officers, while the Justice department indicted the others for making untruthful declarations, returns, and other statements in the Annual Income Tax returns.
BusinessWorld has reached out to the company for their comment through text and phone call but received no response. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante