BIR files criminal raps vs ghost receipt buyers, firms

Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. shows copies of the tax evasion cases the bureau filed against illegal cigarette traders before the Department of Justice in this photo taken on May 25, 2023. 📸INQUIRER.net file photo / Tetch Torres-Tupas

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Wednesday filed criminal cases against corporate officers, accounting firms, and accountants who allegedly bought ghost receipts resulting in P17.9 billion in tax liability.

According to Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr., who led the filing of the cases, the accused were clients of a syndicate that registered ghost companies to sell original receipts to buyers who aimed to reduce their tax liabilities illegally.

“The BIR has filed criminal cases against Buyers of Fake/Ghost Receipts, their corporate officers, the accounting firms they engaged, and the CPAs that signed their Documents,” said Lumagui.

“A total tax liability of 17.9 billion has been computed for this first set of cases. This is tax evasion of the highest order, and perhaps the most elaborate tax evasion scheme in the history of Philippine taxation. We will regularly file criminal cases against buyers of Fake/Ghost receipts,” he added.

Lumagui said the syndicate was discovered by the BIR in December 2022, prompting Lumagui to also file criminal cases against sellers and their accountants in March 2023, as well as an administrative case to the Professional Regulation Commission for the revocation of the accountants’ licenses.

It can be recalled that the BIR formed the National Task Force – Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) to audit the buyers of these receipts in April 2023.

Lumagui then vowed that everyone involved in the syndicate would “suffer the full force of the BIR.”

“”The BIR National Task Force – Run After Fake Transactions will pursue the Buyers of Fake/Ghost Receipts,” said Lumagui.

“BIR is the sole authority that can audit the buyers of ghost receipts. Coordinate with the task force. Submit documents. Attend the meetings. This is merely the first set of criminal cases against the Buyers,” he added.

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