The Bureau of Internal Revenue said Thursday it held simultaneous enforcement operations involving multiple branches covering several locations of Jpoon and Sons Corp., one of the biggest flour distributors in the Philippines.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. led the tax fraud investigation on Jpoon, which is connected to one of the major manufacturers of flour through their interlocking board of directors and majority stockholders, the agency said in a statement.
It is also checking on the importation of wheat used to produce flour by Jpoon’s sister company.
Lumagui ordered the seizure of all the unregistered computers, accounting software, servers and unregistered receipts being used by Jpoon.
“We want a level playing field for businesses in the Philippines. Big companies like Jpoon should comply with all BIR issuances. All companies should. Non-payment of taxes should not be treated as a business advantage,” Lumagui said.
“For violating pertinent provisions of the Tax Code, Jpoon is facing Oplan Kandado Procedure pursuant to RMO 3-2009 and intensive tax fraud audit,” the BIR said.
Jpoon is a domestic corporation with multiple branches in Metro Manila, Naga, Baguio, Laguna, Quezon and Camarines Sur. Its main office is registered with Revenue District Office No. 65 in Naga City, Camarines Sur.
The BIR said its investigation found that Jpoon has a warehouse/sales outlet and a back-office site in Quezon City which are both unregistered.
It said Jpoon issues unregistered invoices in sales operations across branches, and this has been going on for years.
The BIR said the company registered only manual receipts. “It has not registered any CRM/POS or any computerized accounting system which it utilizes to issue unregistered receipts. In this manner, Jpoon is shielding its actual inventory to greatly reduce its tax liabilities,” it said.
The BIR said the company issued unregistered receipts during the test buys conducted by its personnel.
It also said the unregistered warehouse in Quezon City contains thousands of bags of flour including sugar and other bakery products.
