BIR slaps P13M tax evasion raps vs suppliers of DENR, DOT

The Bureau of Internal Revenue on Thursday filed separate tax evasion complaints totaling P13 million against suppliers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Tourism (DOT). In a complaint filed against the DOJ in Manila, the BIR accused Gary San Diego and Irene San Diego, owners of Algamara Construction Co, of perjury, attempting to evade taxes, and failure to supply the BIR with correct and accurate information in the firm's income tax return. Algamara was a supplier of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA, formerly Philippine Tourism Authority) and was paid P4.02 million in 2008. The TIEZA is an attached agency of the Tourism Department tasked to designate, regulate, and supervise Tourism Enterprise Zones in the Philippines. The San Diegos, however, claimed in their ITR they had no operations and sales in 2008. According to the BIR, the construction firm owed the government P4.37 million in tax deficiency for 2008, including surcharges and interest. The accountant that the firm hired in 2008, Ellen Nollasco, was likewise slapped with the charge of violating Section 257 of the National Internal Revenue Code for making false entries. The company's tax deficiency was broken down into P1.133 million in deficiency value added tax and P3.24 million in deficiency income tax. A tax evasion case was also filed against Abraham Cuaresma of Compuserve Land Surveying and Development, which was a supplier of the DENR's Cagayan Valley regional office from January to June 2010. The DENR paid him P12.94 million for the firm's services, but in his tax returns for 2010, Cuaresma declared gross receipts of only P4 million, less than a third of what he got from the government agency. The BIR said his underdeclaration of more than 30 percent constituted prima facie ("at first sight") evidence of fraud. The BIR computed his tax liability at P8.63 million, including penalty and surcharge, broken down into P5.41 million in deficiency income tax and P1.84 million in deficiency VAT. — Mark Merueñas/BM, GMA News