Dominguez: BIR squeezing Marcos estate tax dues despite pending court cases

The taxman is trying to squeeze from the estate of dictator Ferdinand Marcos unpaid taxes from wealth he left behind, although pending cases against ill-gotten properties block government moves to collect their dues, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Wednesday.

“The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is collecting and has demanded payment from the Marcos estate administrators. They have not paid,” said Dominguez, President Duterte’s chief economic manager, who, as Department of Finance chief (DOF), oversees the BIR. Dominguez also served as agriculture and environment secretary under former president Corazon Aquino post-EDSA revolution.

“The BIR will continue to consolidate the titles in favor of the government on those properties which have been levied upon. The procedure may take time as it involves selling at a public auction to convert to cash,” Dominguez said, citing a report from Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay.

Dominguez said the BIR will “go against the properties levied upon, [where] assessment is final.”

“Bottomline, the Marcoses do not take any steps to settle and pay because of pending litigation,” Dominguez said, referring to amassed wealth still entangled in legal battle for several decades now since the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) haled the Marcos family and their cronies into court.

As of press time, Dominguez did not comment on the estimates being floated by former Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio and presidential candidate Isko Moreno of a P203-billion estate tax liability by the Marcoses.

Carpio had been urging the BIR to file a criminal case against front-runner presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos and former first lady Imelda Marcos for their refusal to pay estate tax.

President Duterte himself last Tuesday night questioned why the BIR had been unable to collect estate tax from the Marcoses.

READ: Short in funding, Duterte asks BIR why estate tax had not been collected yet

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