Most DPWH contractors not on top BIR taxpayers’ list

Most of the contractors tapped by the Department of Public Works and Highways to implement some of the country’s biggest public infrastructure projects are not on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s list of the top tax-paying construction companies.

In the BIR’s latest weekly print advertisement, it identified 22 of the DPWH’s top 25 contractors in terms of value of public projects cornered.

For instance, the BIR said, International Builders Corp. (IBC) grabbed P1.63 billion worth of projects with the DPWH in 2012, the highest amount of contracts for that year, but it failed to make it to the BIR’s Top 25 tax-paying contractors.

In 2012, the tax agency said, IBC declared an income tax due of P18.8 million, representing around 1.5 percent of  the value of its contracts.

Similarly, MAC Builders was the DPWH’s second biggest contractor for 2012, cornering P1.31 billion worth of contracts. But the company declared an income tax due P16.6 million that same year, representing 1.3 percent of the value of its contracts.

Other top DPWH contractors that are not on the BIR’s top industry taxpayers’ list include Grace Construction Corp., LR Tiqui Builders Inc., Cavdeal, Newington Builders, GCI Construction and Development Corp., Sunwest Construction and Development Corp., RD Interior Junior Construction, EC de Luna Construction Corp., and Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corp.

Also, the BIR’s top tax-paying contractor for 2012 was DMCI Project Developers Inc., which declared an income tax due of P1.06 billion.

Other companies that landed on the BIR’s top 25 tax-paying contractors for 2012 include: DM Consunji Inc. (which declared income tax due of P350 million), EEI Corp. (P180 million), Megawide Construction Corp. (P167 million), and Taikisha Philippines Inc. (P80.96 million).

The BIR also reported that JSG Construction Co. Inc. did not file an income tax return for 2012.

Citing DPWH data, the BIR said JSG did not bag any DPWH project in 2012, although it grabbed some of the biggest contracts in previous years.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares earlier said that the weekly print advertisement was part of its campaign to discourage tax evasion.