BIR lists down least taxpaying rich

After coming out with the list of top taxpayers for 2012, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) released another report involving the richest individuals in the country who did not make it to the roster of tax contributors.

In its latest weekly public advertisement published on Wednesday, the BIR detailed Forbes’ list of the richest Filipinos in 2012 and where they stood in the bureau’s own taxpayers’ roster.

The comparison revealed that some of the individuals on the Forbes’ list were not on the BIR’s top taxpayers’ roster.

In computing a person’s net worth, Forbes Magazine took an individual’s assets less liabilities. On the other hand, the BIR’s list was based on the amount of tax an individual paid.

Those who were on the Forbes’ list but not on the BIR’s roster of top taxpayers were Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., siblings Iñigo and Mercedes Zobel, Andrew Gotianun and family, Manuel Villar, and Alfonso Yuchengco and family.

According to Forbes, Cojuangco of San Miguel Corp. was the 10th-richest individual in the country last year with a net worth of $1.4 billion.

The Zobel siblings of Ayala Corp., who were reported to have a combined net worth of $1.15 billion, shared the 14th spot on the list of the country’s richest.

The Gotianun family of Filinvest Development landed on 17th place with $825 million.

Villar, who owns Vista Land, was the 18th-richest individual with $720 million.

The Yuchengco family, which owns Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), ranked 21st with $570 million.

Other individuals who were on Forbes’ list last year but who did not make it to the BIR’s roster were Mariano Tan Jr., 22nd-richest with $420 million; Enrique Aboitiz, 23rd-richest with $400 million; Menardo Jimenez, 27th-richest with $265 million; Alfredo Ramos, 30th-richest with $250 million; Juliet Romualdez, 35th-richest with $200 million; Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. and family, 36th-richest with $195 million;

Jacinto Ng Sr., 37th-richest with $190 million; Tomas Alcantara and family, 38th-richest with $160 million; Michael Cosiquien, 39th-richest with $150 million; and Edgar Sia II, 40th-richest with $140 million.

The BIR also learned that some people who took the top spots on the Forbes’ list ranked relatively low on the revenue agency’s roster.

For instance, Henry Sy Sr., the tycoon who owns SM, was the richest man in the Philippines last year with a net worth of $9.1 billion. But he was only the 73rd-biggest taxpayer on the BIR list. Sy reportedly paid P93.76 million in taxes.

Lucio Tan and family were named the second-richest with a combined net worth of $4.5 billion. But Tan ranked only 138th on the BIR list, paying P11.97 million in taxes.

John Gokongwei Jr. and family was the 4th-richest on Forbes’ list with a combined net worth of $3.2 billion. John paid P8.38 million in taxes, placing 260th on the BIR’s roster.

Sy, Tan and Gokongwei, in fact, were outstripped by several show-biz personalities on the BIR’s top taxpayers’ list.

The BIR said the objective of releasing the advertisements related to tax payments was to encourage compliance with the country’s tax laws and to discourage tax evasion.

But it stressed that one could not automatically conclude that tax evasion took place when someone landed on the Forbes’ list of the richest but not on the BIR’s roster of top taxpayers.

“It is possible that one had accumulated assets over the past years but did not earn a substantial income in 2012. In that case, it is understandable why someone can land on the Forbes’ list but not on the BIR’s list,” BIR Deputy Commissioner Nelson Aspe explained.