BIR raps construction, security firms for cheating taxes

The Bureau of Internal Revenue filed before the Department of Justice a tax evasion complaint against a construction firm for supposedly under-declaring its income in billions for the taxable years 2006-2009. BIR commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares on Thursday said that JDBEC Inc. under-declared its income by P1.8 billion and receipts for purposes of the value added tax by P1.2 billion in the same period. Named as respondents were JDBEC president Juanchito Bernardo and vice president and treasurer Praxedes Bernardo. The firm is engaged in general construction, rehabilitation and repair of buildings, industrial plants, roads and bridges, and other infrastructure. The bureau also filed a tax evasion complaint against Icon Security and Investigation Agency for supposedly failing to file income tax returns and to supply the correct and accurate information to the bureau. Henares said that BIR investigation showed that the agency reported a service fee income of only P270,000 in 2007. However, a year later, it declared a service fee income of P2.1 million in its comparative financial statement. But "The same document shows that Icon [actually] earned service fee income amounting to P26.7 million in 2008. Despite the enormous increase in its earnings, BIR records disclosed that Icon did not file any return in the same year," said Henares. She added that the security firm’s unpaid tax liabilities reached P7.8 billion, including interests and surcharges for the years the firm did not supposedly pay the right amount of taxes. —VS, GMANews.TV