The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) are working together to combat tax evasion and money laundering.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. on Aug. 29, 2024 met with AMLC executive director Matthew David to discuss enhancing interagency cooperation and coordination between the two agencies to strengthen enforcement against tax evasion and money laundering.
“Tax evaders are now using sophisticated ways of evading taxes and storing their illegal wealth. This interagency cooperation between the BIR and the AMLC will pave the way for future investigations on tax evasion and money laundering,” Lumagui said.
“The law is clear, all sources of income, whether from legal or illegal means, are taxable,” he said.
The BIR said an example of a sophisticated tax evasion scheme is the use of ghost receipts. Buyers of these receipts use it to lower their tax liabilities illegally because the sellers or issuers of such receipts do not have legitimate business activities.
The seller or issuers are merely companies that were created so their receipts could be used to pad the expenses of buyers, thereby creating a scheme that directly endangers the integrity of our financial system, the agency said.
The BIR and the AMLC agreed to work hand-in-hand to run after criminals engaged in violations of tax and anti-money laundering laws.
The agencies are uniquely situated because their expertise in catching tax evaders and money launderers complement each other.
