BIR closes 2 large warehouses in Dagupan over tax issues

A Bureau of Internal Revenue team on Tuesday padlocked two warehouses in Dagupan City in Pangasinan, citing the Chinese trader who owns them owes the government millions of pesos in taxes.

The trader supposedly did not declare the proper worth of the items kept inside the warehouses, GMA Dagupan's Jasmin Gabriel reported Wednesday.

BIR Region 1 regional director Atty. Arnel Guballa said they even waited for the owner to show up but the owner did not.

"Pinagsa-submit natin sila ng documents or evidence na ma-refute itong aming inventory taking. Pero up to present, marami na naman kaming sulat notices sa kanila. We have given them due process," said Guballa.

The warehouses are believed to contain goods worth millions of pesos, the report said.

Following Tuesday's closure of the two warehouses, the BIR is also studying whether to close other establishments in the area due to tax deficiencies.

Guballa also maintained there is no favoritism in the BIR's crackdown on delinquent taxpayers.

"Hindi naman tayo namimili or namemersonal, so ginagawa lang po namin ay trabaho na kung ano lang po ang lumalabas sa records namin," he said. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News