BIR suspends 3 ‘erring’ tax examiners

Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay has suspended three allegedly erring tax examiners and endorsed the filing of administrative charges against them after a taxpayer implicated the revenue officers in corruption.

In a statement, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said on Thursday that despite being in office for less than a month, Dulay was “beginning to make good his promise to cleanse the [agency] of corrupt revenue personnel.”

The three BIR personnel charged with grave misconduct were Susan R. Ferrer, Rogelio N. Jugao and group supervisor Crisanto M. Olazo of Revenue District Office No. 40, Cubao, Revenue Region No. 7, Quezon City.

The BIR said the three revenue officers were suspended for 90 days and ordered to turn over all public property they were accountable for and their unfinished assignments.

“Commissioner Dulay signed the formal administrative charges and preventive suspension orders slapped on the three erring revenue field personnel. Criminal cases will also be filed against the aforesaid revenue personnel before a proper court,” the BIR said.

According to the BIR, the charges against the three tax examiners stemmed from “a complaint filed by a certain taxpayer with the Office of the Commissioner a few days after Commissioner Dulay assumed his post.”

Dulay personally ordered and also monitored the investigation conducted by the agency’s Quezon City regional investigation division, the BIR said.

“Records of investigation showed that revenue officers Ferrer and Jugao contacted and met the complainant in restaurants outside of the regular course of conduct of audit and before the issuance of a preliminary assessment notice and final assessment notice and demanded and attempted to collect P3 million and P30 million, respectively, from the complainant for the adjustment and/or settlement of the tax liability. Group supervisor Olazo was included in the charges for his failure to prevent and instead, consented to the demand and attempt of Jugao to collect the P30-million alleged settlement,” the BIR said.

“Investigators took note in the aforesaid cases of the unscrupulous practice of the respondents to meet the taxpayer/representatives outside of the BIR when it is only allowed where it is impracticable to do so because of the voluminous records of the taxpayer. They also flagged down the ruse of examiners to dramatically reduce huge assessments to entice the taxpayer to cough up money for [examiners’] personal gain,” the BIR  added.