Cebu towns ‘vulnerable’ to land tax scams

THE conditions that allowed fixers to pull off a land tax scam in Balamban town also exist in other Cebu municipalities, Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said yesterday.

“I was told that in other towns they also do that. I was told by some former mayors who were now Provincial Board (PB) members that it’s happening in their place. There are no reports of that yet but it’s dangerous to be swindled on a similar large scale,” she said.

The vice governor said the distance between their homes and the offices and the length of time to process transactions  encouraged taxpayers to resort to fixers to facilitate their payments.

In Balamban, more than 100 people complained that their capital gains tax payments for land sales  were not remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

They said they were issued BIR Tax Payment Deposit Slips that were later found to be fake.

Magpale said the money paid by the victims could have been pocketed by the fixers with plans to pay them at a later date.

Balamban’s  municipal assessor and two clerks  collected and processed the payments. All three have since resigned, taken a leave of absence or didn’t have their contract renewed after June 30.

Instead of inviting  speakers, Magpale said the board decided to hold a special meeting with officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regional office to discuss how to prevent another land scam.

Magpale said PB Member Alex Binghay, former mayor of Balamban, said he will talk with the scam victims.

She said one proposal calls for  the creation of a BIR division  in the Capitol to serve as payment center.  /Reporter Dale G. Israel