Testimonies lead to tax raps against Taguba, Dong

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday, Jan. 4, filed before the Department of Justice tax evasion cases against Mark Ruben G. Taguba II and Kenneth Dong, who both figured as resource persons in the Senate inquiry on the P6.4-billion shabu smuggled into the country in May last year.

Mr. Taguba is accused of “Willful Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax, Failure to File Annual Income Tax Return (ITR) & Quarterly Value- Added Tax ( VAT) Returns for taxable year 2016 resulting in his non-payment of the taxes due thereon, and for Unlawful Pursuit of Business, all in violation of Sections 254, 255, and 258 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.”

Mr. Dong is accused of “Willful Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax, and for Failure to File Annual ITR for taxable years 2013 & 2016 resulting in his non-payment of taxes due thereon, in violation of Sections 254 and 255” of the Tax Code.

The BIR’s investigation on Mr. Taguba, a customs broker, was prompted by his testimonies before the inquiries of both the Senate and House of Representatives that he charges an “all-in sum” of P170,000 to P190,000 per container van.

Mr. Taguba “also charges a trucking fee of P10,000 per container van which is also deducted from the ‘allin’ sum paid by his clients,” the BIR noted in a statement, adding:

“Based on the congressional inquiries and data obtained from the Bureau of Customs, a total of 7,458 and 7,694 container vans were brought in by Mr. Taguba’s consignees for 2016 and 2017, respectively. For 2016 alone, Taguba earned P1,267,860,000 (at P170,000 per container van).”

In addition, Mr. Taguba was found to have acquired a “Chevrolet Trailblazer 4x2 LTX A/T worth P1,568,888.” and a “Yamaha Mio I 125 BB32 priced at P69,900.” He was also found to own 18 properties in Cavite purchased between 2014 and 2016.

BIR further noted that Mr. Taguba, as indicated in his sworn affidavit, is a “businessman engaged in the trucking business and in the financing of various ancillary ventures such as logistics, brokerage, lending, trading and agricultural production.”

“Taguba failed to register his business with the BIR prior to operating his trucking and other ‘ business ventures,’” the agency said, noting further that he “initially registered with the BIR in 2009 as an Executive Order (EO) 98 taxpayer and as such is not taxable since his registration is solely for purposes of securing a Tax Identification Number....”

“It was only on September 2017 that Taguba changed his taxpayer type from EO 98 to single proprietorship with the business name of Golden Strike Trucking Services,” BIR said.

However, Mr. Taguba “did not file any Income Tax Return or Value Added Tax Return for the years 2009 to 2016 as per records of the BIR and thus failed to declare any income for the said period,” the bureau noted.

“As a consequence of his acts and omissions, respondent Taguba evaded the payment of taxes for taxable year 2016 in the aggregate amount of P850,574,228.77, inclusive of surcharges and interests, broken down into: Income Tax — P660,758,572.33; and Value Added Tax — P189,815,656.44.”

Mr. Dong was also deemed implicated via his own testimony when he admitted his transactions with Mr. Taguba, for which he earned a referral fee of P5,000 to P10,000 per container van.

“He also testified further before the Senate that he does not pay any tax on the income he earned from his venture with Taguba and that he contributed millions of pesos to candidates during election campaigns,” BIR noted.

“A computation of his referral fees showed that he earned P320,000 for the period from September to December 2016,” said the bureau, which also said: “Documents obtained from the Commission on Elections... revealed that Dong gave P3 million in 2013 and P8 million in 2016 to support the election campaign of two lawmakers.”

“Documents culled by investigators from the Land Transportation Office disclosed that Dong paid P850,000 in 2013 for a 2010 Toyota Fortuner, P4.5 million in 2016 for a 2010 BMW, and P2.4 million also in 2016 for a 2013 Ford Expedition,” BIR said, adding that Mr. Dong and his wife “acquired a townhouse unit in Parañaque City worth P3.55 million in 2013.

BIR said documents confirming that property were “obtained from the Registry of Deeds of the City.”

“Further, he had received compensation income in the years 2013 and 2015 from Asuki Weighing System, Inc. amounting to P19,650 and P148,122, respectively,” BIR said. But Mr. Dong “did not file any Income Tax Return, Value-Added Tax Return, or Percentage Tax Return for the years 2003 to 2017 as per records of the BIR.”

“As a consequence of his acts and omissions, respondent Dong evaded the payment of income tax in the total amount of P11,406,940.60, inclusive of surcharges and interests, broken down into: 2013 — P3,907,971.98; and 2016 — P7,498,968.59,” BIR said. —