BIR files 2 cases of tax evasion via ‘ghost receipts’

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has cracked two cases of corporations and officers using “ghost receipts,” leading to the filing of criminal charges at the courts.

“The BIR wins another set of criminal cases involving ghost receipts. Twenty-six criminal informations were filed before the courts. Warrants of arrest will be issued against the responsible corporate officers,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said in a statement.

READ: BIR files raps vs 69 over ‘ghost receipts’

In line with its efforts to combat “ghost receipts”—fake invoices used to evade proper payment of taxes—26 criminal informations have been filed before the courts against corporations and corporate officers under the Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) Program of the BIR.

Violations

However, the BIR did not identify the corporations and officers who had been sued.

The Department of Justice found enough evidence that these entities and their officers had violated several provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code, leading to the filing of cases at the Regional Trial Court and Metropolitan Trial Court.

Arrest warrants are expected to be issued for the corporate officers involved.

The legal battle against ghost receipts followed a raid on a syndicate that had sold these fake invoices to unscrupulous businesses, according to the BIR.

After that, the RAFT program was established to audit and pursue criminal cases against those who buy and use these receipts.

“The BIR continues to fight the war against ghost receipts. Last August 2024, the BIR partnered with Ateneo de Manila University-Department of Mathematics to develop an algorithm that will detect companies possibly using such receipts,” BIR said. —Mariedel Irish U. Catilogo