Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said Thursday the agency filed criminal cases before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the corporate officers and accountant of a trading company for using P200,557,697.25 worth of fake receipts.
The BIR said the company used fake receipts by claiming them as part of its cost of sales for the taxable year 2021. The accountant of the company supplied the receipts of fake businesses owned by her relatives.
“The use of fraudulent receipts, whether it be fake receipts or ghost receipts, is tax evasion. This case is particularly deceitful because it was the company accountant which provided for a way to get fake receipts,” Lumagui said.
He said the company accountant conspired with her relatives to create fake businesses so the company could use the fake receipts of those businesses in claiming expenses.
“As early as 2023 we have warned business owners not to follow the advice of crooked accountants. The BIR will make sure you will share a jail cell with them,” Lumagui said.
The corporate officers and accountant of the trading company would face a set of criminal cases, including the owners of the fake business who provided the fake receipts. The cases filed before the DOJ were violations of Section 254 – Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax, Section 255 – Failure to Supply Correct and Accurate Information, Section 253 (b) – Willful Aiding or Abetting, Section 257 (B) – Knowingly Making False Entries or Fictitious Names in the Books of Accounts, and Section 264 (b) Violations Related to the Printing of such Receipts or Invoices of the National Internal Revenue Code.
Lumagui issued a stern warning against business owners who conspire with their accountants to evade the payment of taxes.
He ordered the filing of a criminal case against a tax evader and their accountant in March 2023. He also filed an administrative case for the revocation of the accountant’s license also in March 2023 before the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).