NEWS: Tax evasion case filed vs dealer of luxury cars

[vito corleone]

e bakit sila lang? dapat tanungin din yung customs inspectors at baka nabayaran. . .kung inosente man yung customs inspectors, tsugiin na rin, nonetheless, for incompetence. . .look at how much money they lost for the govt!



http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...of-luxury-cars

By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:56:00 08/20/2010


MANILA, Philippines—Smuggling charges were filed Thursday against one of the biggest luxury car dealers in the country for allegedly defrauding the government of P68 million in taxes and customs duties in the first five months of the year.

Viking Haulers Inc. paid only P17.4 million in taxes for bringing in three Lamborghinis, three Porsches, three Mercedes Benzes, and a Masserati Quadroporte between January and May, said Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez.

Charges of misdeclaration, misclassification and undervaluation of taxes were slapped against Viking president Reynaldo Pazcoguin, vice president Rodelito Biag, corporate secretary Ofelia Pazcoguin and customs broker Benjamin Valic.

The book value of the vehicles would have earned the government P85.8 million, Alvarez said at a news conference on the latest victim of a shame campaign mounted in a bid to eliminate corruption and raise revenues in the face of a P325-billion deficit.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, appearing with Alvarez at the Department of Justice, urged those who owned undervalued flashy cars to step forward and pay the proper taxes or face prosecution.

“There is nothing wrong with buying luxury cars. Everyone has the right to enjoy their wealth. But the government also has the right to collect taxes and duties. That’s all we’re asking,” he said.

Lifestyle check

Purisima said that he had instructed Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares to conduct a lifestyle check on the buyers of the cars and review their income tax returns.

He said he would also ask the Department of Transportation and Communication and the Land Transportation Office to look into how the vehicles were registered considering the “grossly incorrect” tax valuations.

The government is likewise looking into rampant smuggling in the oil and steel industries, and “several other key areas,” Purisima said.

Alvarez said that the Viking vehicles were imported from the United States, Italy, and Germany and passed through the Manila International Container Port.

He said that the dealer and its broker simply declared the imports as “motor vehicles,” violating a requirement that each unit should be described in detail for tariff classification, valuation and other statistical purposes.

Glaring discrepancies

To show just how much Viking Haulers paid in duties and taxes for the cars equipped with computers and Internet connections, Alvarez gave these examples:

• A 2010 Porsche GT3 was released by the Bureau of Customs after P932,980.30 was paid in taxes instead of P5,710,353.74.

• A 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo was taken out after P3.2 million was paid in taxes instead of P10.6 million.

• A 2010 Mercedes Benz SL 65 was levied only P1.1 million, about P9.1 million less than the correct duties and taxes.

“But the most glaring discrepancy was noted in the case of a 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago, which cleared the customs bureau after paying only P3,366,955, some 80 percent or over P21.8 million less than the P25,218,642.32 that should have been paid the government,” said Alvarez.

The customs bureau will collect from Viking Haulers the unpaid portion of the correct duties and taxes, including penalties and surcharges for the 10 vehicles, Alvarez said.

Should the dealer fail to comply, the bureau would confiscate the vehicles, including those that had been sold, he said.

Alvarez urged the buyers to take advantage of the bureau’s voluntary disclosure program to avoid having their vehicles confiscated.

[uls]

amazing

it's a witch hunt

the govt is running after bling-bling and those selling bling-bling

[tidus1203]

Well its a witch hunt na ok naman IMO... If these people didn't pay the correct taxes then they should be punished... Don't want to pay taxes then avoid buying those luxury cars...

[niky]

Yeah... witch hunt or not... a lot of dealers aren't paying proper tax on these vehicles... I'm wondering who's next.

[CVT]

Oh well,- a few in this forum might consider voluntary disclosure...

10.7K:naughty:

[niky]

Hey... I told them... that Zonda was a gift from the King of Siam. Tax paid... in Russia.

[uls]

the witch hunt will send the rich into low profile mode

those who own supercars will probably use their cars less often

those planning to buy supercars will probably put their plans on hold

on the other hand, they probably won't change their lifestyles one bit

kung iimbestigahan, magpapa-imbestiga

[vito corleone]

Hey... I told them... that Zonda was a gift from the King of Siam. Tax paid... in Russia.

ok, there's one

[jimnyeatworld]

yeah a witchhunt starting from pnoy's sona about that pawnshop owner