CHARGES were filed today by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against several officials of two companies allegedly selling “ghost receipts.”
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. led the filing of 14 cases before the Regional Trial Court and Metropolitan Trial Court of Quezon City against officers and accountants of Decarich Supertrade Inc. and Redington Corporation. The cases belong to the first batch filed in Philippine courts against ghost corporations/sellers under the Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) program of the BIR.
After preliminary investigation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) found probable cause that these corporations and five corporate officers and an accountant committed crimes for tax evasion under Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), failure to file tax returns under Section 255 of the NIRC, failure to supply correct and accurate information in the tax returns under Section 255 of the NIRC, and for making false report in the Audited Financial Statements under Section 257 (A)(2) of the NIRC for taxable year 2021.
The two companies belonged to the first batch of ghost corporations/sellers whom the BIR filed criminal complaint before the DOJ last year. To recall, the BIR released a strong message against this syndicate using fictitious receipts that it is serious in putting a stop to these fraudulent activities since the government is losing an estimated total revenue amounting to P25.5 billion for taxable years 2019-2021 alone.
The BIR already filed 23 criminal complaints against sellers and buyers of fictitious receipts/transactions under its RAFT program.
Just this month, a criminal case was filed before the DOJ against cosmetic brand Ever Bilena Cosmetics for engaging into highly fictitious transactions with ghost companies amounting to billions of pesos. After investigation, the BIR found that Ever Bilena claimed fake receipts/transactions with Decarich Supertrade Inc. From Decarich alone, Ever Bilena was able to evade payment of millions of pesos in taxes. The practice is deceitful and punishable under Sections 254, 255, 267, and 257 of the Tax Code, as no transactions actually happened and the purchases were based on non-existing goods and services of ghost corporations.
“The BIR under the Run After Fake Transactions Taskforce will not hesitate to file criminal cases against big corporations/syndicates that sell, buy, or use ghost receipts,” Lumagui stated.
He added that the filing of charges will serve as a constant reminder to all crooked corporations and Certified Public Accountants that the BIR is serious in filing civil and criminal actions against them.