Bureau of Internal Revenue
MANILA, Philippines — The law does not discriminate, and so the Bureau of Internal Revenue should not cherrypick who it should go after for unpaid taxes, said Malacañang on Wednesday.
During a Palace briefing, acting presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said the BIR should go after everyone who have not paid their tax dues, and not just after politicians and personalities, when asked if there is a sense of urgency among the government officials to collect the P203 billion estate tax liability of the Marcos family.
“Hindi lang kung sinong pulitiko o personalidad. Dapat sa lahat ng hindi nagbabayad ay dapat habulin ng BIR sapagkat kailangan ng karagdagang pondo ng ating national government,” he said.
(Not just politicians and personalities, the BIR should pursue all those who are not paying taxes because the government needs funds.)
Andanar made the remark after President Rodrigo Duterte called out the BIR, asking why it has not yet collected a certain estate tax due.
READ: Short in funding, Duterte asks BIR why estate tax had not been collected yet
Asked if the President is pertaining to the Marcoses’ P203 billion unpaid estate tax, Andanar insisted that Duterte is only reminding the BIR of its mandate.
“The President only reminded the BIR to act on its mandate, and that is to collect taxes,” he said, after which he read a transcript of what Duterte said.
In his regular public address, Duterte, without naming anyone, asked the BIR why it has not yet collected a certain tax estate due.
He made the remark as he justified not suspending e-sabong or online cockfighting operations since the government needs funding.
The issue on estate tax came about after several groups, including retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue to collect the multibillion tax deficiency of the Marcoses.
In response, the BIR said that it has already sent a written demand to the family of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. — chief administrator of the estate of his father and namesake, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. — to pay their estate tax liability that had ballooned to P203 billion last December 2021.
The Marcos heir merely dismissed the BIR claims, saying “there’s a lot of fake news involved” in his family’s unpaid taxes and illegally acquired assets despite amply verified pieces of evidence, as well as numerous court convictions and decisions.