Govt probing Napoles assets abroad — BIR chief Henares

 News
Sep 052013
 
Govt probing Napoles assets abroad — BIR chief Henares

Commissioner Kim Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue said Thursday the government is already taking steps to probe businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles properties abroad. “We are coordinating with foreign governments kasi sa foreign governments pati bank accounts puwede namin makuha dito hindi,” Henares told reporters in Manila, adding that the government’s purpose was merely to “get information” from these foreign governments. The BIR is in the middle of investigating if Napoles, embroiled in a P10-billion pork barrel fund scam, has been paying the right taxes. Napoles had insisted her wealth came from legitimate sources, saying she owns shares in a mining company in Indonesia. It has likewise been reported thatvshe owns properties in the US. “If she has business abroad, mas malaki ang problema niya because the US tax you in a global manner… if you have a US connection,” Henares said. The BIR chief refused to elaborate further on her agency’s ongoing probe, saying: “Puwede kapag handa na kami, sasabihin ko.” Henares also revealed that some of the almost 30 properties earlier reported to be owned by Napoles could have been placed under other people’s names. Similar to doing a “google search,” Henares said her agency earlier asked around different agencies and searched their databases for any properties owned by Napoles. “So iyong nage-generate (so far i connection with Napoles) hindi nagmamatch sa 30 na real properties, 28 dati, ngayon 30… hindi sya nagma-match,” Henares said, adding the BIR is now in the process of tracing who the owners Read More …

BIR on track to hitting ‘sin tax’ target

 Economy
Aug 302013
 
BIR on track to hitting ‘sin tax’ target

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is on track to hit or even exceed its sin tax collection target of P60 billion this year, according to its top official. “We’re confident that we will reach the target.  We think we can even surpass it,” said Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares. Excise tax collections from sin products grew 46 percent to P38.54 billion as of end-June. The bigger share of P22.38 billion came from excise tax revenues from tobacco products. Excise tax collections from alcohol amounted to P16.16 million, up 37 percent from P11.77 billion a year ago. Henares said the BIR would have collected P9 billion more if volumes did not fall by 43 percent.  Nevertheless, collections were still up 56 percent compared with the previous year. The P12.15-billion increase in sin tax collections accounted for less than half of the expected P33.96 billion additional revenues that the government seeks to raise in the first year of implementation of the sin tax reform law. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The decline in volume was due to frontloading at the latter part of 2012. Of the total P33.96 billion in incremental six tax revenues expected this year, P22.9 billion would come from tobacco products while P11 billion would come from alcohol products. Henares said the BIR would have collected P9 billion more if volumes did not fall 43 percent.  Nevertheless, collections were still up 56 percent compared with the previous year. The decline in Read More …

Mindanao solon wants CCTV cameras installed in BoC, BIR and other gov’t agencies

 Entertainment
Aug 062013
 

MANILA (Mabuhay) — As part of the campaign against graft and corruption, a Mindanao lawmaker over the weekend proposed the installation of high definition Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in all government offices, counters and booths that handle cash transactions especially in agencies like the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue […]

Purisima to tax evaders: You can run, but you can't hide

 Economy
Aug 062013
 
Purisima to tax evaders: You can run, but you can't hide

MANILA, Philippines – Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima warned tax evaders on Tuesday while stressing the need to monitor statistics specific to various taxpaying groups. “You can run, but you cannot hide from Commissioner Henares,” he said, referring to efforts being done by Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares to chase after citizens who underdeclare or avoid their taxes. Purisima said that part of the Department of Finance’s tax watch campaign is to increase transparency in tax payments and to ask Filipinos to pay the right taxes by revealing insights about the tax base. “We want to raise awareness about tax payments and ask the public if the numbers we observe make sense,” he said. He noted as an example the number of taxpaying pawnshops in the country versus the number being supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). “Why is it that we have 5,230 pawnshops that paid in 2012, but the BSP supervises 6,301? The average tax payment for pawnshops also went down from P363,085 in 2011 to P315,812 in 2012,” he said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 He goes on by saying that in Binondo, a place full of popular Chinatown eateries, there are only 120 registered restaurants with a combined tax of P156,780 in 2012, lower than the P222,000 posted in 2010. “This average is lower than the average tax payment of restaurants in Baguio, Tarlac, Legaspi City, and the Cordillera Administrative Region. Is that right?” he said. He added Read More …

BIR misses collection target for June

 Economy
Jul 152013
 
BIR misses collection target for June

MANILA, Philippines – Tax collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) rose 9.2 percent to P88.76 billion in June from a year ago level. However, the June collection failed to meet the BIR’s target of P100.51 million for the month. The BIR also missed its collection target in May after  performing above expectations in April. Revenues from BIR operations reached P86.28 billion in May, up P7.37 billion or 9.34 percent from the same month last year. Collections from non-BIR operations went up by 1.94 percent to P2.48 billion. Non-BIR operations refer to taxes collected by the the state from government securities issued by the Bureau of Treasury. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 BIR’s Regional Offices collected P31.53 billion during the month, an increase of P3.5 billion or 12.48 percent. Collections from the large taxpayers, on the other hand, amounted to P54.75 billion,  7.61 percent more than last year’s figure. For the first half of the year, the BIR collected P593.71 billion, up 13.92 percent from a year ago.  Collections from BIR operations  increased 15.29 percent to P574.84 billion. Collections from non-BIR operations, on the other hand hand, fell 16.4 percent to P18.87 billion. Excise tax collections on sin products likewise saw an expansion during the six-month period, rising 46.06 percent to P38.54 billion. The bulk of the amount or P22.38 billion came from tobacco products while the balance of P16.16 billion came from alcohol. The excise tax collected from tobacco firms represents an increase of Read More …

BIR looking into dead peoples bank account

 Entertainment
Jul 012013
 

MANILA  (Mabuhay) — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has asked banks to submit records of deceased persons in the last five years to boost estate tax collections and see whether financial institutions connive with heirs to evade taxes. “We’re asking banks to give us the bank statements of those persons who died in the […]

New OR reqm’t will proceed as planned – BIR

 Economy
Jun 062013
 
New OR reqm’t will proceed as planned – BIR

MANILA, Philippines – The new regulations requiring all business  establishments to print new official receipts, invoices and other business documents  will proceed as scheduled on July 1, 2013, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said yesterday. BIR Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares said “the complaints against the new regulation are without any basis” and that business establishments were given more than enough time to meet the requirement. Henares said the BIR issued the new policy last year and published the same in a newspaper of general circulation informing the parties concerned that existing receipts would expire on June 30, 2013. “We believe that six months is enough preparation for everyone to comply with such requirement,” Henares pointed out. The BIR, in issuing this new regulations, aims to regulate further the printing of all invoices, set validity period and generate reports relative to the Authority to Print official receipts. This was an offshoot of the agency’s discovery of businesses registered with the BIR that are not really engaged in any business except to sell invoices, thereby defrauding the government of billions in tax revenues. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 These businesses, the BIR noted,  sell their invoices to entities who are either engaged in smuggling and/or purchasing goods without receipts. When BIR looked for these companies, mostly Small and Medium Enterprises, they cannot be found. The BIR also discovered that a lot of invoices that were printed in the ‘70s are still being used. Henares said the issuance Read More …

 Older Entries  Newer Entries