Presidential candidates in the upcoming May elections are urging the government to collect the Marcos heirs’ P203-billion estate tax.
Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the Supreme Court (SC) already ruled with finality regarding the tax.
He said nobody can claim the contrary since the SC ruling was final and executory. He also said the estate tax could balloon to a trillion pesos if remained uncollected.
“So it is just right to collect the tax debts. If not, that might balloon to one trillion. Remember, it started with P23 billion, that is the basic estate tax that they need to pay. In the course of time, there were surcharges, penalties, and it reached P203 billion,” Lacson, quoted in a GMA News report said.
Lacson also backed the call of President Rodrigo Duterte for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to collect the tax debt.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno earlier “dared” the camp of fellow presidential bet Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to pay the P23 billion estate tax debt.
Moreno said this was the after a general counsel of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas said this was the amount the Supreme Court ruled with finality.
Senator Manny Pacquiao also supported the calls to collect the debts. Pacquiao said “even the President” said that taxes should be paid.
Pacquiao made the remark when asked if he would have the BIR intensify its efforts in collecting the Marcoses’ estate tax which is said to be valued at over P200 billion.
“Even the President sabi niya bayaran niyo ‘yung tax na hindi niyo binayaran. Bayaran niyo ang tax na hindi niyo binayaran kasi commitment din naman natin ‘yan,” Pacquiao said at a news conference during a campaign stop,” Pacquiao, in a separate news report said.
For the Akbayan party list, the BIR should file a criminal case against Marcos Jr. and his family for “their refusal to pay the P203 billion estate tax debt.”
The party list group filed a petition filed before the BIR, which said the tax agency should not allow Marcos Jr., “use the presidency as a tax shield.”
Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, the spokesperson for Marcos Jr, has repeatedly said that the ownership of the properties which are subject of the estate tax had yet to be settled. Rodriguez also said the issue was “all politics.”