BIR charges trading company over P200M in ‘fake receipts’

MANILA — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed criminal cases on May 2, 2024, against corporate officers and an accountant of a trading company for allegedly using over 200 million pesos in fraudulent receipts to evade taxes.

These receipts, allegedly fabricated by the company’s accountant and her relatives, falsely inflated the company’s cost of sales for the 2021 tax year.

BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. revealed that the receipts were purportedly issued by non-existent businesses, a deceptive scheme orchestrated by the accountant in collusion with her family members.

“The use of fraudulent receipts, whether it be fake receipts or ghost receipts, is tax evasion,” Lumagui stated, emphasizing the gravity of the deceit.

The offenses, detailed in the Department of Justice filing, include violations of multiple sections of the National Internal Revenue Code, such as attempts to evade or defeat tax, failure to supply correct information, and knowingly making false entries in business records.

“This case is particularly deceitful because it was the company accountant who provided a way to get fake receipts,” Lumagui explained.

The BIR has repeatedly warned against such practices, and Lumagui assured that they are committed to ensuring that both corrupt business owners and their complicit accountants face justice.

In a stark warning to the business community, Lumagui added, “Hindi palalagpasin ng BIR ang mga negosyante na nakikipagsabwatan sa kanilang accountant upang iwasan ang pagbayad ng tamang buwis. Magsasama kayo sa kulungan.” (The BIR will not let business owners who conspire with their accountants to evade paying the correct taxes get away with it. You will share a jail cell.)

The crackdown follows a March 2023 precedent where Lumagui filed criminal and administrative cases against another tax evader and their accountant, leading to the revocation of the accountant’s license by the Professional Regulation Commission.