THE Provincial Legal Office (PLO) is urging the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 13 to reconsider its decision to freeze more than P50 million in the bank accounts of the Oslob Municipal Government.
Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said they plan to question the BIR’s warrants of garnishment after town officials claimed they were not given due process.
The PLO has been tasked to take up the southern Cebu town’s tax case after Mayor Jose Tumulak sought its help.
Ortega said they believe the BIR 13 didn’t consider Oslob’s arguments when the agency issued the formal letter of demand and the warrants of garnishment for the town’s whale watching ventures, for which the town reportedly failed to pay taxes in 2012 and 2013.
He explained that the BIR cannot tax the town’s 30-percent share from the whale shark watching activity, as a municipal ordinance states that what the town gets are merely regulatory fees.
These fees, Ortega said, are intended to not only help develop the whale shark watching area in Barangay Tan-awan, but also to fund environmental protection programs and ensure the safety of tourists, among others.
Ortega also said that the issuance of the formal letter of demand by BIR to Oslob in January 2016 was invalid since it was not signed by an authorized person. The signature, which local officials could not recognize, didn’t include a name, he said.
A day before the warrants were issued, Ortega sent letters to the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, reminding them that public funds from Oslob’s bank accounts cannot be subject to garnishment.
Ortega said that they plan to submit an appeal before BIR Commissioner Cesar Dulay. (JKV)