By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Forty-one tax evasion charges were levied by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against a construction firm and a metal business firm for their utilization of ghost tax receipts in their campaign against tax evaders.
Ghost receipts are receipts with fictitious underlying transactions where buyers of the same declare in their tax returns to illegally lessen their tax due.
Specifically resolved in favor of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), 37 cases were lodged on December 10, 2024 before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) and Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) of Pasig City against E.D. Buenviaje Builders, Inc. for violations of Sections 254, 255, and 267 in relation to 253 (d) and 256 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.
Likewise, 4 charges were also filed before the Malabon City RTC and Manila City MeTC against Limhuaco Metal Industrial, Inc. together with their responsible corporate officers for similar offenses.
In an earlier development, Decarich Supertrade Inc., Crazykitchen Foodtrade Corp., Buildforce Trading Inc., Redington Corporation, Everpacific Inc., and Unimaker Enterprise Inc. have faced charges after discovery of their involvement in selling ghost receipts.
These companies do not have any legitimate business activity and were only established to sell fake receipts to its buyer corporations/individuals so that the latter can claim them as fake deductions/expenses to maliciously lessen tax liabilities.
This time, charges were filed against the said construction and metal business firms for being recipients of the said fictitious receipts.
“Let this be a warning to those who [purposely] betray public trust by defrauding the state of collecting its due. Taxes are the lifeblood of this nation and by deceptively evading the same equates to outright robbing from the Filipino people,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla said. (with report from Mela Lesmoras/PTV News)
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