It pays for lot buyers, sellers and taxpayers to verify their payments to avoid being scammed by fixers, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said yesterday.
BIR Revenue District officer Evangeline Abanilla said this in the wake of the Balamban land tax scam where at least 100 lot sellers discovered that their payments for capital gains tax to the BIR were never received.
Bank deposit slips shown to them by municipal employees who were entrusted to remit the cash payments turned out to be fake.
The amount involved in the swindle was estimated to be at least P3 million based on initial findings of Balamban town officials..
A joint investigation is under way by the BIR regional and the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas.
“Always validate your transactions,” said Abanilla.
She said the possibility of being issued fake bank deposit slips by fixers is real because of advancements in technology and the lucrative real estate industry in Cebu.
Abanilla said some parties just send representatives to pay for their taxes without bothering to verify the actual payment.
In the Balamban case, at least two lot sellers discovered the discrepancy too late after checking with the BIR office in Mandaue City and the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Capital gains tax is paid to the BIR by the seller from the sale of property.
The Balamban municipal assessor and two of her clerks were tapped by many residents to remit their tax payments to the BIR through deposits with the Land Bank of the Philippines branches in Metro Cebu.
However, this errand is not part of their official duties.
The full extent of the scam has still to be determined.
Abanilla said taxpayers can always check the BIR office database to see if their payments were updated.
“For the documents themselves like the receipts that are currently being investigated for the case in Balamban, we can’t tell for sure just by looking at it because some really look so authentic. So what we do is validate that using our system here,” Abanilla said.
Abanilla said there were cases of some fake documents being forwarded to their office like a fake Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR), which the BIR can validate right away with their system.
For the CAR forms, Abanilla said their office usually generates a separate document called OCN, which serves as a clearance each time they create an authentic CAR form that can be used as one way of telling if the form is indeed authentic.
“For those purchasing property we usually ask requirements before they come to us to apply for CAR. Then they go to the municipal assessor’s office, which will issue their new tax declaration,” Abanilla said.
Abanilla said there are more than 20 banks, including Land Bank of the Philippines, authorized to receive tax payments to the BIR.
Taxpayers are given receipts and a bank deposit slip that can be used for validation, she said.
“After they have completed payments to their developers, they can also come to us and validate their transactions. That’s always the best way. Always validate and follow the correct processes,” Abanilla said.
Abanilla received the memorandum from BIR Regional Director Jose N. Tan directing her to investigate the Balamban incidents and coordinate with the bureau’s Legal Department and the Special Investigations Department.
“I will meet with my staff on Monday. We’ll form a five-member investigation team, which I will head,” she said.
Abanilla said they will ask the Balamban municipal government to provide the BIR a list of other complainants.
So far two complainants have executed affidavits.
More than 100 upset lot sellers and buyers went to the Balamban municipal hall on June 15 to demand answers after discovering that fake deposit forms were used by those who were supposedly helping them complete the sale of property.
The municipal assessor and two staffers were asked to go on leave by the mayor. They reported back to work last but were reassigned to different offices.
Mayor Ace Binghay referred the matter to the Civil Service Commission for investigation. He said he wanted to avoid doubts that a local inquiry would be biased.
The BIR regional office and Visayas Ombudman’s Office announced they would conduct their own investigation after reading about the Balamban scam in Cebu Daily News although the BIR Mandaue district had already been visited by complainants.