4 firms face P172M tax raps

The taxman came on Thursday for four companies accused of failing to pay around P172 million in income taxes, value-added taxes and other assessments to the national government.

Sued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the Department of Justice were a hardware company, a beverage manufacturer, a software firm and a gasoline retailer.

A complaint was filed against Jose Lazaro Carlos, owner of JL Carlos Commercial in Barangay Pembo, Makati City, after he allegedly failed to declare the income payments made to his firm by the Makati City government in 2010 and 2011. According to the BIR, the amount totaled around P54 million, excluding value-added taxes.

Noting that Carlos declared an income of only P8 million for 2010 to 2011 in his VAT returns, the BIR said he owed the government about P49 million in income taxes and VAT, including surcharges and interest.

Vivian Mawis, owner of Active Petron Service Station in Makati City, was charged over deficiency tax liabilities in 2007 totaling P35 million, including P9 million in VAT; around P14,000 in expanded withholding taxes (EWT); nearly P29,000 worth of withholding   taxes on compensation; and a P10,000 compromise penalty.

Also sued were Miguel Cervantes and Gideon Dante Galang, president and chief financial officer, respectively, of Software Laboratories Inc. in Salcedo Village, Makati City, for tax liabilities in 2010. According to the BIR, they owed the government around P34 million, inclusive of increments.

It added that Cervantes and Galang were served notices about their tax deficiency but they failed to file any protest, making the assessments “final, executory and demandable.”

Also charged was Parañaque-based Mangosteen Beverage Corp. and its officers—board chair Nathan Daniel Brown, president Anthony Craig Hale and treasurer Marc Wendel Walker—for failing to pay P54 million in taxes in 2007, inclusive of increments.

The amount represented P44 million in income taxes, P9 million in value-added taxes and around P1 million in EWT, according to the BIR.