The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said Tuesday the Department of Justice (DOJ) ruled in its favor in a P5.7 billion tax evasion case against five Chinese nationals allegedly involved in illicit cigarette operations.
Following the DOJ’s ruling, the agency said it filed two criminal cases before the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on March 13, 2025.
The BIR’s case with the DOJ stemmed from multi-city raids conducted by the BIR and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Nov. 6 and 7, 2024, in Valenzuela and Bulacan, it said.
“The BIR won a P5.7 billion tax evasion case against five Chinese nationals linked to a large illicit cigarette operation. This case is part of our largest raid against illicit cigarettes last 2024,” BIR Commissioner Lumagui Jr. said in a statement.
“This win is a testament to our commitment to pursue every criminal involved in the illicit cigarette trade. We will raid your warehouses. We will destroy all illicit cigarettes and machines. We will file cases against you. You will be arrested,” said Lumagui.
The total tax liability in the case is P5.76 billion. About 21,000 master cases of illicit cigarettes were seized during the operations.
The BIR also conducted a nationwide destruction of illicit cigarettes and unregistered machines from Feb. 24 to March 5, 2025, destroying 14.3 million packs of illicit cigarettes over 10 days.