Palace on Marcoses' P203-B tax debt case: BIR should go after all those not paying

Malacañang on Wednesday said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) should go after all people who are not paying their taxes amid the issue of the P203-billion estate tax debt case of the Marcos family.

At the Palace briefing, acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar was asked if the Palace is seeing a sense of urgency in collecting the supposed unpaid taxes that can be used for pandemic response and recovery.

“Hindi lang sa kung sinong politiko o personalidad. Aba dapat sa lahat ng hindi nagbabayad ay habulin ng BIR sapagkat kailangan ng karagdagang pondo ang ating national government,” he said.

(Not only a certain politician or personality. The BIR should go after all those who are not paying their taxes because the national government needs additional funds.)

On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte said the BIR should be asked why it had yet to collect a certain estate tax due. He didn't name from whom the estate tax should be collected.

Asked if Duterte was referring to the case of the Marcos family and if the Palace will take legal steps on the matter, Andanar said the president was just reminding that the BIR should serve its mandate.

“The President only reminded the BIR to act on its mandate and that is to collect taxes,” he said.

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.

However, the BIR and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) refuted the claim with the tax-collecting agency even saying it sent a written letter to the Marcos family in December 2021 demanding payment of the tax obligation. —KG, GMA News