Police arrested a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) employee for reportedly extorting money from a business establishment during an entrapment on Feb. 14.
In a statement on Monday, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said the agency received reports of a certain individual who was repeatedly extorting money from a business establishment selling kid’s bikes, under the guise of an official BIR Tax Compliance Verification Drive.
The BIR, in coordination with barangay officials and the Philippine National Police (PNP), said it caught the person and discovered that he was a BIR employee. It was not, however, his official function to be in the taxpayer’s place of business or vicinity.
Lumagui these kinds of individuals “have no place in the BIR.”
“All BIR officials conducting enforcement activities must be armed with the proper authority either a Letter of Authority or Mission Order. Taxpayers can always ask and verify the authority by which a BIR employee is visiting their office or business,” Lumagui said.
Since the arrest, criminal cases of robbery (extortion), grave coercion and usurpation of official function/authority, violations of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees were subsequently filed before the Office of the City Prosecutor.
“All BIR officials conducting enforcement activities must be armed with the proper authority either a Letter of Authority or Mission Order. Taxpayers can always ask and verify the authority by which a BIR employee is visiting their office or business. You can report any individual, whether a BIR employee or a stranger, if he/she cannot show any official document that warrants his/her presence in your business establishment,” Lumagui said.