BIR readies 2 more tax cases vs Mighty

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is set to file before the Department of Justice two more complaints against Mighty Corp., the cigarette company at the center of a multibillion-peso fake tax stamp issue, sources said.

The respondents led by Mighty owner Alexander Wongchuking have asked for the dismissal of the complaints that have already been filed, according to their joint counter-affidavit, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

The DOJ is keen on consolidating all the complaints filed and after which will work on a compromise agreement, sources said.

However, the Department of Finance said any settlement agreement must be a reasonable amount based on the estimated tax liabilities of Mighty of at least P36 billion.

So far, the BIR has filed two criminal complaints against Mighty for alleged non- payment of taxes. The first is a P9.5 billion complaint involving the company’s warehouses in San Simon, Pampanga, which were found to have been storing 60,000 master cases of Mighty cigarette brands with alleged fake tax stamps.

The second complaint of P26.9 billion involved two Mighty warehouses in San Ildefonso, Bulacan which contained 163,000 master cases of cigarettes.

The two new cases to be filed cover raids in General Santos City that yielded around 18,000 master cases of Mighty cigarettes with alleged fake stamps and in Tacloban which had three shipping containers loaded with Mighty cigarettes.

In their joint counter affidavit on the first BIR complaint covering the San Simon raid, Mighty spokesperson and EVP Oscar Barrientos and treasurer Ernesto Victa maintained that all stamps pasted on cigarette products in the San Simon warehouses were “all genuine, having paid over P12.8 bilion therefor in the year 2016 alone.”

“In any event, we cannot be held criminally liable for violations of the National Internal Revenue Code, because of the following immutable facts: unlawful entry and seizure by the Bureau of Customs and BIR of goods stored in Mighty warehouses , BIR regional director’s Letter of Instruction is invalid as only the BIR Commissioner is empowered to issue under Sec. 16 of  the NIRC,” Mighty said.

Mighty likewise cited BIR Regulation No. 7-2014 which requires surveillance and prior assessment of excise taxes for stores or facilities with suspected fake excise tax stamps.