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Wednesday, October 16, 2002
BIR to expedite audit of John Hay developer
BUREAU of Internal Revenue Cordillera Regional Director Estrella Martinez said she will expedite the tax auditing of the John Hay Development Corporation and other developers in the city before she leaves her office.
Martinez was declared persona non-grata through a council resolution for going into a tax compromise deal with a locator in the Baguio Export Processing Zone.
The City Council said that BIR-Cordillera reduced its tax assessment of Bay Sports Manufacturing Corporation from P1.2 million to P270,000.
But Martinez said the filing of the resolution coincided with the start of BIR's tax auditing of CJH Devco.
Councilor Braulio Yaranon, the only one who dissented the resolution, said that the resolution asking for the immediate transfer of Martinez may indeed have to do with the tax auditing of CJH Devco. This is the first time since 1996 when the CJH Devco became the developer of John Hay that a tax auditing was made by BIR.
"There are some matters in the John Hay audit that will open up confidential matters. Expenses deducted can be audited and assessed," Yaranon said.
Money due to the government amounted to P2 billion since December 31, 2001, including the 12 percent interest and three percent penalty. Twenty-five percent of the money should go to the city and two percent of the gross income of CJH Devco.
"The developer of Mimosa Leisure Estate in the Clark development Zone was ousted for failing to pay its incurred delinquency of about P300 million. But, here in John Hay, we are talking of billions of pesos and yet we treat them differently," Yaranon said.
He also said that the other probable reasons for the council resolution was that some of the politicians want to put in their own people in the agency.
"Or maybe they just want to show their superiority over the other officials of the city," Yaranon said.
The council said that their reason seeking for the transfer of Martinez is that she drastically reduced the city's two percent share of the tax by bringing down Bay Sport's 1999 tax assessment.
Martinez said that under the compromise settlement program of the BIR, the local government unit are entitled to the two percent share of the tax from the Philippine Export Processing Zones Authority but for 1999 and prior years, they should claim the tax from the Department of Budget. Everything in the compromise settlement with Bay Sports is above-board," Martinez said.
She also said that the P270,000 being quoted by the council is actually P654,000. (Frank Cimatu) |
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