BIR goes after industrial bag maker

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday filed at the Department of Justice tax evasion charges against a manufacturer of bags for industrial use from Pasig City and a metal machine and tooling products trader from Mandaluyong City.

The BIR is seeking the payment of P50.83 million in deficiency taxes from Philpackaging Corp., including surcharge and interest that can be broken down into P14.43 million in deficiency income tax and P36.4 million in deficiency value added tax for 2010. There add up to P78.47 million.

It is also seeking the filing of criminal charges against Philpackaging Corp. president Camino Benedicto and its treasurer Juanito Benedicto for violations of Sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code or for attempting to evade taxes and failing to supply the bureau with correct and accurate information in its tax returns.

Philpackaging is a registered taxpayer of Pasig and is a manufacturer and trader of plastic woven cloth and bags for wholesale or retail.

According to the BIR, third party information showed that Philpackaging sales amounted to at least P205.74 million in 2010 but the company declared sales of only P42.41 million. The sales the company declared for the year did not even amount to a quarter of the purchase of one customer, Republic Cement, to which it sold a total of P186.3 million for the year.

The BIR is also seeking the payment of P27.64 million in deficiency taxes from PKC International Trading Corp. for taxable year 2011.

The agency said it would also be pursuing charges against the company’s president Jeremy Kalaw, its chief operating officer Christian Pineda and its chief financial officer Joseph Kalaw for attempting to evade taxes and failing to supply the BIR with correct and accurate information in its tax returns. Jerome Aning