The Bureau of Internal Revenue said Tuesday it padlocked seven establishments including restaurants that were reportedly catering mainly to Chinese employees of Philippine offshore gaming operators.
BIR South NCR director Glen Geraldino and Las Piñas revenue district officer Rebe Detablan closed down “POGO restaurants” operated by Frame Rose Ranes Salisi (under tradename Young Restaurant) and Shinedeligo Corp. for their alleged failure to pay the correct value-added tax pursuant to Revenue Memorandum Order No. 3-2009.
The five other establishments whose business operations were temporarily suspended were not registered at all, it said.
The seven closed establishments stemmed from the tax compliance verification drive implemented by BIR Las Piñas under BIR South NCR through the issuance of Mission Order No. MSO2001 00101198 dated Aug. 14, 2019 targeting the nighttime business establishments on Aug. 22 to 23, 2019.
"The required 48-hour notice and five-day VAT compliance notice were duly served but remained unheeded. As such, closure orders were recommended for the approval of the deputy commissioner for operations," the BIR said in a statement.
Aside from Regional Director Geraldino and RDO Detablan, the closure operations were also witnessed by Atty. Wilmer Dekit, chief of the legal division, representatives from regional investigation division and the majority of the assessment group of BIR Las Piñas. Julito G. Rada
The establishments are said to be allied services of POGO operations as they predominantly served the Chinese nationals employed in online gaming.