Fair BIR probe of tax stamps urged

A lawmaker from Davao has commended the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for initiating an industry-wide investigation of the massive proliferation of fake tax strip stamps on cigarette packs.

While Deputy Speaker Mylene J. Garcia-Albano of Davao City 2nd District cited the BIR for expanding its investigation, she said the agency also needed to ensure fairness in its probe.

Garcia-Albano said it was the government’s duty to ensure impartiality in investigating all players in the [cigarette] industry.

“You cannot single out a local manufacturer just because of some … baseless accusations. The proper way to do it is to investigate everybody,” the PDP-Laban lawmaker said.

She said it was crucial for the BIR to address the problem of fake tax stamps and smuggled cigarettes since revenue generation will be critical for the Duterte administration’s economic development program.

BIR deputy commissioner for legal services Jesus Clint Aranas disclosed last week that the revenue agency would investigate all cigarette industry players, including market leader Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp.

Excise tax collections last year fell 7.9 percent to P91.6 billion over the P99.5 billion collected in 2015. BIR Deputy Commissioner Nestor Valeroso attributed the drop to the proliferation of fake tax stamps and smuggled cigarettes.

Garcia-Albano said that Congress, for its part, was doing its best to plug revenue leakages to make up for the projected revenue losses from the reduced personal income tax being pushed by the Duterte administration.