SBMA execs get tough on tax evaders, shut down cigarette maker

Lawyer Wilma Eisma, head of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), leads the inspection of the Qiu Tobacco Industrial Co. Ltd. Corp. that was later padlocked for alleged tax evasion. PHOTO FROM SBMA

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT–Authorities here shut down a cigarette manufacturing firm for alleged tax evasion and non-compliance with other government regulations.

In a report, officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Tuesday, Oct. 1, said the facility of Qiu Tobacco Industrial Co. Ltd. Corp. was padlocked last Friday, Sept 27.

Lawyer Wilma Eisma, SBMA chair and administrator, said a team from her office and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) inspected six cigarette manufacturers at the Gateway Park here as part of a crackdown on companies that fail to pay correct taxes and follow government regulations.

Eisma said the Qiu Tobacco, which produces cigarette brands like Belmont, Navy and D&B, did not have excise stamps on their soft packs.

BIR regional director Ed Tolentino said the firm violated section 263 of the National Internal Revenue Code, which prohibits the possession or removal of articles subject to excise without payment of tax.

Excise is a duty on manufactured goods which is levied at the moment of manufacture, rather than at sale.

A company representative at the facility also failed to present a copy of the firm’s Certificate of Registration and Tax Exemption (CRTE).

Eisma said this was a violation of the agency’s requirement to display the CRTE in company facilities. Joanna Rose Aglibot/TSB