Duterte: Ask BIR why it has yet to collect estate tax

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night said the Bureau of Internal Revenue should be asked why it had yet to collect a certain estate tax due.

Duterte didn't name from whom the estate tax should be collected but the issue of the estimated P203 billion said to be collectible from the Marcos family had been in news for a few weeks now.

“Sa taxation natin, ang government can only prod. Hindi naman kailangan ng reminder sa Malacanang," Duterte said during the weekly Talk to the People.

"Nandyan ang BIR, so tanungin natin ang BIR bakit hanggang ngayon hindi nakolekta yung estate tax,” he added. 

(In our taxation, the government can only prod. You do not need to remind the Malacañamg. There’s the BIR, let’s ask them why the estate tax is still unpaid.)

He made the remarks as he explained his decision not to suspend betting on online cockfights or e-sabong amid calls for its suspension after the disappearance of 34 cockfighting enthusiasts.

“Baka nagdududa kayo bakit 'di ko hininto? Di ko po hininto kasi kailangan ng pera sa e-sabong ng government. I make it public now. P640 million a month. In a year’s time that’s billions," Duterte said.

"Sa'n tayo maghanap ng ganung pera kadali?” he added.

(You may be wondering why I did not suspend it. I did not because the government needs funding from e-sabong. I will make it public now. We collect P640 million per month from that. In a year’s time that’s billions. Where can we get the money that easily?)

Malacañang last week said that it would confer with the BIR and economic cluster as regards the multi-billion-peso tax assessment on the estate of the late former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The camp of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos  Jr. has repeatedly dismissed calls for his family to settle the tax liabilities and said the case is still pending in the courts.

The BIR and Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), however, refuted the claim with the tax-collecting agency even saying it sent a written letter to the Marcos family in December 2021 demanding them to pay their tax obligation. —NB, GMA News