Atlas sought to pay P200M of excise taxes

The Revenue District Office (RDO) of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Masbate City is asking the Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp. to pay the bureau almost P200 million in excise taxes from the firm’s gold mining operations in Aroroy, Masbate. Atlas told the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday that the BIR issued a warrant of distraint and/or levy to the mining firm for failing to pay some P197.6 — basic tax amounting to P82.3 plus an interest of P115.3 — during its mining operations from 1991 to 2003. The warrant indicates the amount and date due to pay the excise taxes. If taxes are still not paid, property could be seized, advertised, and sold for the amount of taxes and expenses due. Atlas used to operate the Aroroy project before Filminera Resources Inc. and Thistle Mining Inc. of Canada took over the project. Filmera and Thistle started their mining operations in Masbate in early 2007. They poured in $100 million in new investments in the Aroroy project. Atlas posted a net profit of P460 million in the first six months, reversing its P1.169 billion loss during the same period in 2009. The publicly listed firm said in July that it expects better earnings this year, buoyed by favorable copper prices and sustained demand. The mining properties of Atlas include Lutopan underground mine, Lutopan open-pit mine, Greater Biga mine, Carmen mine, and Palawan nickel projects. -- JE/OMG, GMANews.TV