Poe says of Smart’s unpaid taxes: Negligence or foolishness in tax collections?

Senator Grace Poe answers reporters’ queries in a media interview at the Senate in Pasay City on Monday, February 27, 2023. INQUIRER.net photo / Daniza Fernandez

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe was stunned to learn on Monday that Smart Communications Inc. owed the government P3.2 billion in back taxes and questioned whether carelessness or idiocy was to blame.

She couldn’t fathom how a corporation of that size could skip paying its fair share of taxes.

“Obviously, meron din dapat ipaliwanag ‘yung nangongolekta ng taxes, bakit nila pinabayaan na hindi makabayad nang ganu’n,” the senator said in a media interview at the Senate.

(Obviously, tax collectors should also explain why they allowed the company not to pay.)

“Walang maniniwala na wala silang pera. May pera sila para magbayad. So, may kapabayaan du’n. Kung hindi kapabayaan, may kalokohan,” she continued.

(No one will believe that the firm does not have money. They have money to pay. So, there is negligence there. If not negligence, there is foolishness.)

Smart Communications’ headquarters in Makati was padlocked on Monday morning following the supposed billions worth of delinquent taxes and for operating without a business permit.

Makati officials claimed that Smart “failed to settle or obtain any relief from the courts over its franchise tax deficiency worth over P3.2 billion covering the period January 2012 to December 2015.”

JPV/abc