SAY TAX MAN LENIENT IN OTHER PROVINCES
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
CALASIAO, Pangasinan – Some of the penalized stall and kiosk owners of the newly
opened SM Center Dagupan grumbled to the Bureau of Internal Revenue in
Pangasinan that in other places in the country they were allowed to operate
unregistered and fine-free for two months, according to the top executive of
the tax agency.
“Sabi nila bakit sa ibang lugar hinde sila pina fine pero dito sa Pangasinan minumultahan kaagad sila, “according to Assistant Revenue District Office (RDO) No. 4 Chief Aldrin A. Camba.
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| The beleaguered SM Center -Dagupan. (Photo Credit: SM Super Malls) |
He explained to them that he and RDO Chief Ernesto I. Mangabat could not be lenient on them in the province because this newspaper’s writer reported their violation.
“Sinabi namin ni RDO na kailangan e
tax mapping namin kasi media man iyong nag report ng violation”.
Before they could do their mapping they asked first Region-1
Director Thelma S. Milabao for a mission order.
The tax mapping led by Supervisor Cherry Wong ensued three weeks after
the mall’s opened in October 4 this year after a lawyer, who asked for
anonymity, reported to this newspaper that an attendant of a milk tea store did
not issue an invoice sanctioned by the BIR because it did not have it
yet.
The lawyer said he reported this incident to two BIR officials but they did not
inform Camba and Mangabat.
“As a lawyer a business could not open without an official receipt,” he
said.
Camba cited that a group of BIR personnel based here and led by Wong combed
the two-floor’s SM Center Dagupan.
A source cited that it has more than 70 stalls and kiosks there.
Revenue District Office No. 4 Chief Mangabat said that after a notice or
two, those recalcitrant stall and kiosk owners at SM-Dagupan who did not
register will be sued by the BIR.
Mangabat exhorted those penalized
leasees to register to avoid legal action.
“Oo kasi kung alam natin na
magbabayad ngayon okay na iyan. Pero dapat magpa register na. Pero despite of
our effort na demand the payment and for registration hindi pa rin gumagalaw, iyon na ipo forward na namin iyong case sa legal namin,” he told this
writer.
Several of the owners told ARDO Chief Camba that they were forced to open
because the management of SM-Dagupan threatened them to be penalized.
“Hinde nila inexpect na mag oopen kaagad. Ang alam nila parang
matagal pa. So sila iyong mga business establishments relax muna sila. Nagpu
process lang pero hinde pa iyong talaga full processing. E biglang sinabi ng SM
mag oopen na tayo ganitong date. Kung hinde kayo makikiano kayo sa amin sa
opening mape-penalty kayo,” he quoted one of the operators there who
came to his office to explain his infraction.
The threat from SM could not be a reason for the unregistered stall owners
to acquisce because they violated the tax law of the country, Camba declared.
Mangabat said that failure to register of an owner will be meted a P20,000
fine if the store is located in the city, P10,000 and lower if they are located
in a second class and lower class towns.
Those penalties are provided by the National Internal Revenue Code says that “Any person who, being required under Section 237 to issue receipts or sales or commercial invoices, fails or refuses to issue such receipts of invoices, issues receipts or invoices that do not truly reflect and/or contain all the information required to be shown therein, or uses multiple or double receipts or invoices, shall, upon conviction for each act or omission, be punished by a fine of not less than One thousand pesos (P1,000) but not more than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) and suffer imprisonment of not less than two (2) years but not more than four (4) years”.
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