MANILA: It was an “extraordinary” 2017 for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), said the country’s finance minister, after the bureau waged a successful war against big-time tax dodgers.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said BIR closed 2017 on a good note after it booked the country’s biggest-ever tax settlement: Mighty Corporation’s about P30 billion liabilities.
“The year 2017 is an extraordinary one for the BIR, owing largely to this achievement,” Dominguez said in his speech Friday, December 29, which was read for him by Finance Assistant Secretary Mark Dennis Joven. “The crackdown on Mighty will have to be credited to the vigilant and unyielding effort of our revenue agencies. I look forward to other accomplishments like this one in the coming months,” he added. Embattled Mighty offered to settle its tax liabilities for P25 billion and close shop after the bureau filed several complaints for its use of counterfeit tax stamps before the Department of Justice. (READ: The Philippines’ biggest business deals in 2017)
The Bulacan-based cigarette maker was then bought out by global giant Japan Tobacco (JT) for about $1 billion to partly help the local cigarette firm settle its P30 billion tax evasion case.
The government had accused Mighty the Philippines’ number two cigarette manufacturerof using fake tax stamps to get out of paying excise taxes.
