The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed a criminal case against popular cosmetics brand Ever Bilena for allegedly failing to settle an estimated P1.6B in total tax liability.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui, Jr. said the company used receipts from several “ghost companies” to avoid paying taxes.
The tax agency conducted its investigation through its Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) task force with the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“After a thorough investigation, the task force discovered approximately P1.6 Billion in total tax liability,” the BIR said in a news release sent Friday, Feb. 2.
BIR filed its case against Ever Bilena last Thursday, Feb. 1.
Lumagui said this is part of the RAFT task force’s ongoing efforts to “prioritize big fishes, big companies that use syndicates as means of evading their taxes.”
According to the BIR, Ever Bilena through its corporate officers and Certified Public Accountant is facing charges of tax evasion, failure to supply correct and accurate information in the Income Tax Return and Value-Added Tax returns, perjury, and making false records or report under the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.
Ever Bilena has yet to issue an official response to this news.