Jeane Napoles using 1-time transaction TIN in 2011 — revenue exec

A district revenue officer (DRO) on Wednesday attested that Jeane Catherine Napoles, youngest daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, was using a one-time transaction Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) when she acquired a posh condominium unit in Los Angeles, United States in 2011.

During the resumption of Jeane's tax evasion case trial at the Court of Tax Appeals, DRO Florante Aninag, standing as prosecution witness, said the younger Napoles secured the one-time transaction TIN on November 17, 2008 when she was just 18 years old, citing a documentary evidence.

The prosecution presented Aninag to prove that Jeane was already earning income at the time she acquired the LA property and owed taxes to the government, contrary to her camp's defense.

The one-time transaction TIN, as explained by Aninag, is needed as a requirement in applying for government permits and licenses pursuant to Executive Order 98, series of 1999.

EO 98 mandates government agencies to include TIN as a requirement in applying for government permits and licenses.

During cross examination, however, Aninag admitted that a person applying for a TIN under EO 98 does not necessarily have to have income.

In the hearing, Aninag also said there is no age requirement in applying for the one-time transaction TIN, and that anyone can apply "so long as that person still has no TIN before."

Meanwhile, public prosecutor Atty. Loverhette Jeffrey Villordon, noted during the hearing that the one-time transaction TIN can be converted into a regular TIN once a person applies for a job, to which Aninag agreed.

But asked if Jeane's TIN eventually got converted into a regular one, Aninag said: "No."

"The [taxpayer] classification of the accused is still the same," he added.

Interviewed by reporters after the hearing, Atty. Ian Encarnacion, Jeane's counsel, reiterated that her client was not earnign income at the time, and merely used the TIN not to acquire a property but "to obtain a driver's license."

The defense has also earlier maintained that Napoles’ parents are the real owners of the Ritz Carlton property and just named it under their youngest daughter.

Jeane is facing cases of violation of Sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code for allegedly failing to file her income tax return (ITR) and pay her income tax for the year 2011, despite her acquisition that year of a posh condominium unit at Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles, United States worth $2 million.

The trial will resume on May 10, with at least two more prosecution witnesses to be presented.

Jeane's mother, Janet, is in detention over charges for her alleged involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel fund scam. — MDM, GMA News