QC fiscal drops tax case vs tycoon

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office has junked a tax case filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against business magnate Lance Gokongwei for insufficiency of evidence.

In a three-page resolution released to the media yesterday, assistant city prosecutor Raymund Oliver Almonte dismissed the charges of violation of Section 5(c) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 against Gokongwei.

The tycoon, currently the president and chief operating officer of Universal Robina Corp., was accused of failing to present its records for verification and examination by the BIR.

In dismissing the case, Almonte ruled that the complainant failed to establish in the complaint that there was a valid and effective personal service of the subject subpoena to Gokongwei.

“It should be noted that Revenue Memorandum Order No. 88-2010 requires the personal services of the subject subpoena to the respondent. In the stated attached affidavit of service of subpoena, the manner of service was defective,” read the motion.

The prosecutor added that BIR failed to state in their affidavit of service of subpoena that there was an attempt to serve personally the subject subpoena to the respondent taxpayer.