The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filed tax evasion charges against fitness guru Tina Juan and celebrity cosmetic doctor Jessie Mendez as the Arroyo administration launched a campaign to crack down on professionals — including doctors, lawyers, athletes and entertainers — who have been delinquent in their tax payments.

Finance Undersecretary Emmanuel Bonoan and BIR commissioner Guillermo Parayno Jr. announced yesterday that charges had been filed against Juan (Cristina Aboitiz-Juan in real life) and Mendez (Joel Cortez Mendez in real life) for non-declaration of true income and non-payment of taxes.

Juan, a well-known physical fitness newspaper columnist who also hosts her own television program, was named in the charges along with six others from her company, Fitness by Design Inc.

Parayno said that based on BIR records, Juan’s company owed the government at least P10.6 million in taxes, surcharges and interests for undeclared revenues in 1995.

Charged along with Juan, who is stockholder, director and treasurer of her company, were company manager Delfin M. Ferrer and accountant Olivia C. Mendoza.

According to Parayno, Juan claimed that her company was in its pre-operation stage in 1995 and thus did not declare income for that year.

However, a BIR investigation showed that the company sold sports and exercise equipment, received payments and issued invoices, official and provisionary receipts in the same year.

Parayno said Juan had offered a compromise settlement to the BIR but he said the case would not qualify for settlement since it involved fraud and perjury.

BIR assistant commissioner Licerio Evangelista explained that under the law, tax evasion cases that involved fraudulent acts would not qualify for compromise.

On the other hand, the case against Mendez arose from non-filing of income tax returns and non-payment of income taxes for 2001 and 2002, under-declaration of his taxable income and non-declaration of sales receipts from business outlets and branches in 2003.

"These acts constitute tax evasion on the part of Mendez," Parayno said.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200503110404.htm

Pwede ba, before they go after these people, asikasuhin muna nila ang tax evasion CASES ni Lucio Tan worth more than just mere millions of pesos. At kung totoo man ang allagations nila against Ms. Aboitiz-Juan and Mr. Mendez, I hope that they will not succumb to ningas cogon ulit. At baka naman hanggang press release lang nanaman to.

haha, these are small fry compared to lucio tan and many corporate bigwigs! it's no different from james dean's infamous public service announcement in the 50s, in which he advised motorists to drive "safely." bad examples in both instances.

BIR files tax evasion charges vs 2 firms
By Des Ferriols
The Philippine Star 04/01/2005

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has filed charges against Philippine Telephone & Telegraph Corp. (PT&T) and a garments company for tax evasion and estafa totalling over P500 million.

Cracking down on tax evaders, the BIR filed its complaint against PT&T and named as respondents company president, chairman and chief operating officer Jose Luis Melo Santiago, among others.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno said PT&T was cited for non-remittance of taxes withheld.

"For several years, PT&T did not remit payment of withholding taxes," Parayno said. "We discovered this through our electronic filing and payment system."

Parayno said that after being informed of its liability, PT&T filed its returns through BIR’s Integrated Tax System but failed to pay the corresponding taxes of more than P560 million.

"These consist of unpaid withholding taxes, value added tax, percentage taxes and income taxes," Parayno said.

The BIR also filed a complaint against garments manufacturer Excellance Weaving Mills Inc., listing two Taiwanese nationals and their three Filipino partners as respondents, namely: Wu Wen Ping, Wu Wen Piao, Lucila Ventura, Joselito Sandoval and Nestro Cuevas.

Parayno said Excellance Weaving was cited for failure to supply the correct information in its returns for taxable years 2000 and 2001 and for not declaring its true income.

"The company was also cited for not paying its tax obligations despite notices from the BIR," Parayno said.

The BIR and the Department of Finance (DOF) have also started offering rewards of up to P1 million for information that would lead to the recovery of uncollected taxes and prosecution of tax evaders.

Earlier, the government filed tax evasion charges against basketball star Paul Asi Taulava and former Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia and his wife Clarita for alleged tax evasion.

yup, they are also pursuing cases against Lucio Tan, Imelda Marcos, basketball icon Paul Asi Taulava, Gen. Carlos Garcia and his wife Clarita, the owners of Glo Herbal and Itacar Phils., Jose Luis Melo Santiago and fellow officers of
PT&T; and Excellance Weaving officials, among others.

recently, DOF Sec. Cesar Purisima and Commissioner Guillermo Parayno Jr. of the BIR also inspected business establishments in Manila. accompanied by some 100 BIR examiners from the Manila regional office, the two officials walked the long stretches of Quintin Paredes and Juan Luna streets in Binondo where they caught more than 20 stallholders not issuing receipts to their clients.

Sana nga kasi our friend knows alot of military Generals in the Philippines who have hidden wealth here in the states. Nag-low key na nga raw sila dahil sa mga imbestigations na iyan.

there are also other high-ranking military officials facing corruption charges, others are under investigation.

btw, the DOF-BIR team has filed tax evasion charges against actor Richard Gomez and a couple, Edgardo Tecson Yambao and wife Maria Isabel.

Gomez, based on information gathered by the BIR from its automated systems
called Integrated Tax System (ITS) and Taxpayer Accounting System (TAS), has not filed any income tax returns for taxable years 2000 to 2003. the only BIR transaction Gomez made was the payment of documentary stamp tax for P786,975 on Nov. 6, 2003 for the acquisition of a Forbes Park property worth more than P52 million.

the Yambaos, on the other hand, are not registered taxpayers and have no record of income tax returns from 1993 to 2003. yet, the couple has a residential unit in a subdivision in Muntinlupa, a condominium unit at One Burgundy Plaza at Loyola Heights, and another residential unit at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. the couple acquired the Burgundy Plaza condominium unit in 1999, and three luxury vehicles – a Toyota Land Cruiser, and two Subaru Foresters – from 2001 to 2003, in addition to another unit at the Essenssa East Forbes Condominium. the total cost of these properties at the time of their acquisition was P31.68 million.