|
THE
Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) legal group scored a
victory over industry leader Metropolitan Bank and Trust
Co. (Metrobank) after the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA)
ordered the bank to pay the government the total amount
of P3,786,923,372.43 in back taxes and interests.
In a 23-page en banc decision
promulgated on October 30, but released only recently,
the CTA further penalized Metrobank with an additional
“25-percent surcharge and 20-percent delinquency
interest until such amount is paid.”
The decision, penned by Associate
Justice Juanito Castañeda Jr., with the concurrence of
all five justices of the CTA, upheld the October 25,
2006 ruling of the CTA’s First Division, ordering
Metrobank to pay the said amount representing
documentary stamp taxes and deficiency gross receipts
tax for its universal saving accounts, interbank call
loans and onshore income.
“We want to bring home the message that
the BIR is relentlessly pursuing tax-evasion cases
against erring companies and individuals, and we are
optimistic that the long arm of the law will finally
catch up with them,” stressed BIR Deputy Commissioner
for legal and inspection group Atty. Gregorio Cabantac,
who is in charge of the BIR’s legal cases.
“At the same time,” Cabantac added, “we
urge the general public to do
their
share in nation-building by paying the correct taxes and
to pay them voluntarily to avoid legal tussles and
criminal liabilities.”
Metrobank, however, stressed Tuesday it
had never been delinquent in more than four decades in
the industry. Atty. Antonio Viray, assistant corporate
secretary, said in a statement: “The bank has filed a
motion for reconsideration and [this] is pending
resolution in the CTA. In any event, we are ready to
avail [ourselves] of other legal remedies, including
going to the Supreme Court, to finally resolve this
industry issue.”
Viray added, “Pending resolution of this
matter, we would like to assure the public that
throughout our 45-year history, Metrobank has not been
remiss in its responsibilities to the country.
Especially with regard to paying taxes.”
In 2006 the bank paid P24.5 billion in
taxes; for the last three years, it paid P64.4 billion.
Meanwhile, Cabantac also revealed that
out of the four pending cases in the celebrated
P5.3-billion tax-credit scam involving the fraudulent
use of tax-credit certificates in the mid-1990s, three
of these cases were already decided by the CTA in favor
of the BIR, amounting to a total of P1.7 billion,
inclusive of 20-percent interest. The last case is still
pending before the CTA.
Oil giants Shell Phils. and Petron were
accused of using fraudulent TCCs to cover their tax
liabilities. The TCCs were passed on by the group of
businessman Faustino Chingkoe, whose garments and
textiles companies were found to be unqualified for
using the TCCs.
Cabantac said, meanwhile, that “at the
rate that we are going on these criminal cases, the
BIR’s batting average in winning its tax cases in
various courts and tribunals has increased to an
unprecedented 87 percent. And we hope to achieve more in
the coming years,” he said. |
