Yong’s lawyer hits BIR over tax probe

The lawyer of Cebu-based ophthalmologist Dr. Potenciano Larrazabal yesterday complained over the manner in which the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) conducted its investigation on his client.

Lawyer Cornelio Mercado said Dr. Larrazabal, who was charged with tax evasion, wasn’t given due process of law before charges were filed against the latter before the Department of Justice.

“We’re surprised. We’re confused. For them to conclude that there was an alleged fraud committed, how did you get that?,” Mercado told Cebu Daily News yesterday. He said they received a notice last April 26, informing them that four BIR representatives are coming to Cebu to examine Larrazabal’s tax records.

Mercado said the four BIR representatives would have determined “what they know against what is in my client’s record.”

He said the filing of a criminal complaint against Larrazabal last Wednesday came as an “unpleasant surprise” to them.

“We don’t know what to do. Will the examination of my client’s records continue or shall we go on and face the charges?,” he said.

Larrazabal, husband of singer-actress Donna Cruz and the board secretary of the Cebu Doctors Group of Hospitals and University, is facing charges before the DOJ for evading taxes.

The DOJ said Larrazabal failed to supply the BIR with correct and accurate information in his tax returns from 2009 to 2011. The BIR computed Larrazabal’s tax deficiencies at P21.14 million.

“My client should have been informed that he lacked payment as tax to the government. He should have been given a chance to settle whatever there is to pay. But we were never informed about it,” Mercado said.

He expressed dismay over the failure of the BIR to give Larrazabal a chance to settle the latter’s supposed tax dues. “I could not understand the system,” said Mercado.

Larrazabal, also the founder of the Larrazabal Eye Group, allegedly under-declared his income and didn’t pay the correct income taxes on it.

The DOJ said the doctor also failed to pay the Value-Added Tax (VAT) and file his VAT returns. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol