Del Monte denies P21-B tax liabilities for 2011

Contrary to allegations that they had P21 billion in tax liabilities in 2011, Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI), a subsidiary of Del Monte Pacific Ltd., yesterday said it received a deficiency assessment of only P14.9 million for that taxable year.

In a statement, DMPI said it was never issued nor has it received an assessment of P21 billion from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for 2011.

“A P21-billion tax assessment would be outrageous considering that DMPI’s total revenue in 2011 was P16.8 billion,” the company said.

Del Monte added it only received a deficiency assessment of P14.9 million – due to disallowed deductions and timing issues – for 2011, which it had already settled.

“With respect to the assessments of P3.43 billion for 2012 and P5.2 billion for 2013, DMPI and its tax counsel had satisfactorily substantiated a much lower amount of taxes due which the BIR accepted,” it said.

According to a plunder complaint filed against BIR commissioner Caesar Dulay and other BIR officials, DMPI supposedly had tax assessments of P21 billion for taxable year 2011.

Dulay, however, allegedly ordered a reduction of the tax due to P14.99 million when he came into office. This was supposedly paid to the BIR last February.

For taxable year 2012, Del Monte was assessed P3.43 billion, but was allowed to pay only P20 million and in 2013, the tax due was allegedly also reduced to P30.3 million from P5.2 billion.

Thus, out of the P30 billion in assessments for 2011, 2012 and 2013, Del Monte was allowed to pay only P65.4 million, according to the complaint.

Del Monte, however, clarified that this amount was only a portion of the P5.9 billion it paid the BIR from 2011 to 2013.

The company said it remitted P1.67 billion in 2011, P2 billion in 2012 and P2.25 billion in 2013 to the BIR as payment for income tax, fringe benefits tax, value-added tax and documentary stamps tax.

DMPI further noted that it was one of the Philippines’ top 500 corporate taxpayers during the aforementioned period, ranking number 161 in 2011; 107 in 2012 and 77 in 2013.

“In its long history in the Philippines, DMPI has been diligently paying the correct taxes. As a subsidiary of a company dually listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, DMPI operates with the highest degree of transparency and adheres to the Philippine Tax Code and the BIR rules and regulations,” the company said.

DMPI expressed its willingness to fully cooperate in any government inquiry.

Dulay, for his part, said he has requested the Department of Finance to handle the investigation of the alleged anomaly.

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