THE government should drop its plan to forge a compromise agreement with tobacco firm Mighty Corp. for its tax-evasion cases, a group said Sunday.
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption said the proposal to drop the charges against Mighty Corp. in exchange for the immediate payment of P3 billion to the government was “unacceptable.”
Group founding chairman Dante Jimenez said the proposed compromise amount was too small compared to the tobacco-firm’s P36.5-billion tax liability as assessed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in its two tax-evasion complaints before the Justice Department.
“We in the VACC believe that whatever the assessed amount of tax liability is, it should be collected in full,” Jimenez said.
“There should be no compromise when it comes to tax collections because our government needs money now more than ever.”
Jimenez said if the government wanted to collect from Mighty Corp. right away and not wait for the outcome of the tax-evasion case, which could take years, it could allow the firm to fully settle its liability within a reasonable period so it could finance vital infrastructure projects.
“The government should just allow Mighty Corp. to settle its liabilities on an installment basis instead of agreeing to a compromise amount that is way below the BIR assessment amount,” Jimenez said.
He said aside from requiring Mighty Corp. to pay its total tax liabilities, the government could impose strict conditions, such as canceling its permit and banning it from again engaging in the tobacco trade to stop it from again avoiding the payment of taxes.
Mighty Corp.’s first case involves P9.56 billion in unpaid excise taxes. The second case involves P26.93 billion in tax liability.
The respondents in the cases are Mighty Corp. owner and vice president for external affairs Alexander Wongchuking; former Armed Forces deputy chief-of-staff and retired Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, Might Corp.’s president; retired Judge Oscar Barrientos, executive Vice President; and company treasurer Ernesto Victa.
The prosecutors are set to conclude the preliminary investigation hearings in the first case on May 30 but move to start hearing for the second case.
Mighty Corp. has reportedly offered to settle its tax liabilities through a compromise payment agreement, but Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the government had yet to settle the amount and that the filing of cases against the tobacco firm would be necessary before the compromise could be arranged.
He earlier said that President Duterte had agreed to the P3-billion compromise offer, but Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez objected saying the amount should not be less than P15 billion.