Zoren Legaspi blames accountant for erroneous tax files

Actor Zoren Legaspi put the blame on his former accountant for any incorrect filing of taxes, while complaining of not getting due process before the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) slapped him with a P4.45 million tax evasion case.

Legaspi with his lawyer Ricardo Ribo appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday to formally deny the tax evasion charges filed against him last month.

In his counter-affidavit, Legaspi said he never intended to evade paying taxes and offered to settle any tax deficiency.

“For purposes of tax compliance, my former accountant was the one who prepared and filed my 2010 and 2012 ITRs (income tax returns), as I am not capable of accomplishing its various official forms,” the actor-director said in his nine-page formal reply.

“Obviously, ordinary taxpayers such as (myself) rely on the work of the accountant and have no actual knowledge of the inaccuracy or falsity of its return,” he added.

“If ever there was a mistake on (my) part in providing data therefore, there never was any fraudulent attempt to deceive or an intentional commission of fraud,” he continued.

Legaspi went on to question the BIR’s computation, saying it was “utterly discriminatory, unfair and unreasonable” that the tax agency recorded that he paid P973,817.28 in withholding tax when he actually paid P1,367,165.27 for that year.

He also pointed out that he paid the corresponding value-added tax P270,201.43 that year.

But Legaspi said that “without admitting any liability,” he is willing to pay any tax deficiency so long as this is computed according to existing laws and regulations.

The actor said the BIR did not give him the chance to air his side before it filed the criminal complaint for tax evasion.

He said the complaint was filed before the DOJ on May 8, just a day after he received a letter from the BIR ordering him to submit his book of accounts and other documents.

The actor said he has no past record of having evaded taxes, pointing out that he was among the BIR’s top individual taxpayers in 2010 and 2011.