Philrem runs into more trouble with taxes

PHILREM ACCOUNTANT WANTED Philrem president Salud Bautista says the firm’s accountant can explain its financial statements. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

NOW at the center of the controversy in the $81 million cyberheist, Philrem Service Corp. is running into more problems.

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Kim Henares told the Senate blue ribbon committee that the remittance company had not been issuing legitimate receipts after seeing those issued by the company to individuals and casinos it had remitted the $61 million of the stolen $81 million wired to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Henares also said Philrem’s tax payments were wrong because it continued to be registered as a land transport company when it had been operating as a remittance and foreign exchange company since 2005.

The BIR commissioner was asked by Sen. Vicente Sotto III to scrutinize the acknowledgement receipts that Philrem submitted to the committee. These covered remittances it had made to casinos and individuals that included the missing Weikang Xu, who got P600 million and $80 million last month.

But Henares said the acknowledgment receipts violated the National Internal Revenue Code which required businesses to have all their receipts registered with the BIR since 2013 for auditing purposes.

She said the Philrem receipts did not show the features required by the BIR. “This is already a clear violation of the regulations,” Henares said. “This is not a legitimate and right receipt.”

BIR AT LAUNDERING PROBE Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares tells members of the Senate blue ribbon committee that Philrem, a company engaged in money transfers, is in the wrong business as it is registered as a transport firm. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Henares also said her office had looked into Philrem’s records at BIR and found out the company had not updated its registration since 2005 when it amended its charter. Philrem was registered as a “land transport contractor” and did not update its registration with the BIR, she said.

“So the taxes they paid were wrong. When you are a money changer and a foreign exchange company, you are a nonbank financial intermediary so you are supposed to pay a 5-percent gross receipt tax and are not supposed to be paying value-added tax.”

Asked how much Philrem paid in taxes last year, Henares said it was “much much less than six figures.”

On a query by Sen. Serge Osmeña, Henares said with the P10 million Philrem made out of its transactions with RCBC, it was supposed to pay taxes amounting to 5 percent of gross receipts.

Osmeña asked Philrem president Salud Bautista to present her accountant at the next hearing on Tuesday.