The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said Thursday it filed criminal complaints against 23 corporations, 56 corporate officers and 17 certified public accountants for alleged tax evasion.
The cases, filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ), are part of a broader crackdown on the use of “ghost receipts”—fraudulent documents used to create the appearance of legitimate business expenses to lower tax payments.
The BIR said the scheme has resulted in P1.41 billion in lost taxes.
“We have filed another set of criminal cases against those who use ghost receipts, all of whom are involved in the use of ghost receipts to evade taxes, said BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. in a statement.
The criminal complaints allege multiple violations, including tax evasion, failure to supply accurate information, perjury and false reporting. The accused corporations span various sectors, including construction, manufacturing, food, electronics and retail.
According to the BIR, these companies obtained suspicious purchase receipts from “ghost corporations” that exist only on paper without actual business operations or assets.
The bureau noted that it has already secured victories in similar cases. The DOJ earlier issued resolutions against several companies including Redington Corp., Decarish Supertrade Inc., Buildforce Trading Inc., Crazykitchen Foodtrade Corp., Everpacific Inc., Unimaker Enterprise Inc., E.D. Buenviaje Builders Inc., Equator Energy Corp., Total Metal Corp., Gammon Resources Inc., Limhuaco Metal Industrial Inc., CHK Steel Inc., Infinity Dynamic Systems and Solutions Inc., Synergy Sales International Corp., Hilmarc’s Construction Corp., Crystal Merchandising Corp., Systech Lighting and Controls Inc. and Volt-Teas Five Inc.
These cases are now pending before the courts, according to the BIR.
The BIR also noted recent DOJ indictments of major companies, including Ever Bilena Cosmetics Inc. and CHG Global Inc. (also known as World Balance), for their alleged use of ghost receipts.
“We will not stop filing tax evasion cases against those who use Ghost Receipts,” Lumagui said.
“We have filed, and won, criminal cases before the DOJ even against large companies such as that of Ever Bilena and World Balance. The proliferation and use of ghost receipts ends now,” he said.
