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BIR to probe Makati City gov't


The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will investigate the Makati City government headed by Mayor Jejomar Binay due to allegations it failed to secure the required tax identification number (TIN) for 8,000 city hall employees. BIR Commissioner Jose Mario Bunag said in a statement that he has directed Makati City BIR regional director Nelson Aspe to verify the allegations made by former Makati Councilor Oscar Ibay that thousands of municipal employees in Makati have not secured TINs as required by the tax code. Binay has been suspended by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the strength of the accusations made by Ibay and former Makati City vice mayor Roberto Brillante that the incumbent mayor is harboring some 8,000 ghost employees who have not secured TIN from the BIR. The Court of Appeals (CA) however issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the DILG from implementing the suspension order against the Makati City mayor. Bunag pointed out the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) states that all persons employed or seeking employment should secure TINs that would register them as potential taxpayers. "The TIN is an important requirement that enables the BIR to track down potential taxpayers in order to build up its revenue base," he stressed. He added that tax law also states that employers of individuals have the duty to secure the TIN of their employees. Municipal governments, according to the BIR, that failed to secure TINs for their employees would be held liable for violating the NIRC. Ibay claimed that that the city government of Makati had lost some P960 million a year, or about P9 billion over the last eight years, if it was paying some 8,000 fictitious employees, who have an average salary of P10,000 a month. Binay, however, argued that the issuance of TIN to municipal employees is the lookout of the BIR and not the municipal government that is only tasked to ensure that city hall employees pay local taxes. - GMANews.TV

Tags: binay, bir
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