President Duterte has rejected the payment scheme offered by Mighty Corp. as compromise for its multi-billion-peso tax liabilities arising from its alleged used of fake cigarette stamps.
This was revealed by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre as the Department of Justice is set to start its preliminary investigation on the P9.564-billion tax evasion charges filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue against the cigarette firm and its officials.
Aguirre admitted that the Mighty Corp. has agreed to pay P13 billion as compromise payment for its tax liabilities and penalties so that the government would no longer pursue criminal cases against the firm and its executives.
“Mighty Corp. is willing to pay the amount, but requested to settle it in a staggered scheme of P1 billion per payment,” Aguirre disclosed.
“But I think President Duterte doesn’t like it. He wants full payment of the amount because he doesn’t want this to be another of [online gambling tycoon] Jack Lam,” the DoJ chief said.
According to Aguirre, the tobacco firm would have to pay the amount in full if they really hope not to face criminal prosecution before the Court of Tax Appeals and payment of bigger amount of tax deficiency and penalties.
Apart from the P9.564 billion, more tax evasion charges are being prepared by the BIR against Mighty Corp. in connection with the firm’s other cigarette packages with fake tax stamps seized from its other warehouses.
Aguirre explained that a compromise deal between the government and erring taxpayers is allowed under the National Internal Revenue Code.
He, however, stressed that the preliminary investigation against Mighty Corp. would have to proceed.
“I just formed the three-member panel. We have to make Mighty Corp. answer the charges first and then the BIR will reply before the case will be submitted for resolution,” he said.
In its complaint, the BIR accused the controversial company of violations of the National Internal Revenue Code for allegedly using bogus tax stamps on their products to evade the payment of excise tax to the government.
The charges involved unlawful possession of articles subject to excise tax without payment of tax and possession of false, counterfeit, restored or altered stamps in violation of Sections 263 and 265 (c) of the NIRC, respectively.
Among the main respondents in the criminal complaint is Alexander Wongchuking, owner and vice president for external affairs and assistant corporate secretary.
The other respondents are former Armed Forces deputy chief-of-staff and retired Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, president; retired Judge Oscar Barrientos, company executive vice president; and company treasurer Ernesto Victa.
The BIR filed the charges after confiscating master cases of cigarettes worth P2.3 billion bearing fake tax stamps from Mighty Corp.’s warehouse in San Simon Industrial Park in Pampanga earlier this month.
The bureau stressed that mere possession of the cigarette packs with fake tax stamps is in itself a violation of the law.
It was found during inventory that 87.5 percent of the 66,281 master cases containing 33,140,500 cigarette packs in the warehouse had fake stamps that did not contain multi-layer security features.
The BIR added that the stamps were not affixed at the production plant of Mighty Corp. in Malolos, Bulacan as required by law, which means the seized master cases came from another manufacturing plant.
The bureau pegged the aggregate excise tax liability of the tobacco firm at P9.564 billion.
BIR officials said they were preparing another set of tax evasion charges against Mighty Corp. in connection to the cigarette packs worth P215 million with fake stamps seized from another warehouse in General Santos City also earlier this month.