The Bureau of Internal Revenue has asked the Department of Justice to prosecute Rappler Holdings Corp. and its officers for tax evasion.
In a complaint, the BIR accused RHC and its president, Maria A. Ressa, and its treasurer James C. Bitanga of violating the National Internal Revenue Code, specifically for willful attempt to evade or defeat tax and for deliberate failure to supply correct and accurate information in its annual income tax return and value added tax returns for 2015.
The complaint alleged that RHC purchased common shares from Rappler Inc. worth P19, 245,975.00. Then, it issued and sold Philippine Depositary Receipts to two foreign firms worth P181, 658,758.67.
The BIR said RHC used the same common shares it purchased from Rappler Inc. as the underlying share of the PDRs for profit and transmitted economic rights to the PDR holders.
The bureau said that RHC is subject to income tax and VAT, being a dealer in securities.
However, the annual ITR and VAT returns for 2015 does not reflect any IT and VAT from the PDR transaction, the BIR said.
“As consequence of its acts and omissions, the aggregate tax liability of RHC amounted to P133,841,305.75 broken down as follows: IT-P91,320,481.08 and VAT-P42,520,824.67,” the BIR alleged.
Aside from tax evasion charges, Rappler is also facing a cyber crime case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation.
According to NBI Director Dante Gierran, they filed the complaint last Friday, March 2, but declined to give further details.
Instead, he directed reporters to refer to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, whose office will evaluate the merits of the complaint.
Earlier, the NBI said the cyber libel complaint filed by businessman Wilfredo Keng over an article published in 2012, had no basis since the one-year prescription for the case had already lapsed and the publication of an article cannot be considered as a continuing offense because the original posting is deemed as a single offense.
Rappler’s problems started when the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked the news agency’s incorporation papers in January for alleged violation of foreign ownership restrictions in the Constitution.
Rappler, however, is questioning the SEC decision before the Court of Appeals.