Four unregistered warehouses of a hardware company in Cebu City were padlocked by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Thursday.
BIR Cebu City District Legal Department chief lawyer Jose Hector Baronda said that the operation was conducted after their investigation department discovered that the warehouses were not registered by their owner, Federal North Hardware Inc.
The closure order for the hardwares – three located in Alviola Street in barangay Villagonzalo and one at the Cebu Port Terminal 4 – was released on May 9.
Baronda said that under Section 115 of the National Revenue Code, the BIR commissioner has the authority to close an establishment or its facilities if they fail to register their property with the BIR.
BIR Regional Investigation Department Chief Bernardino Paul Somera Jr. said that they have conducted a surveillance on the hardwares three weeks ago and found out that they belong to the Federal North Hardware but were not registered with the BIR.
Somera said that the closure should serve as a warning to other establishments that violate any provision of the tax law.
“We want to leave the message that we are strengthening the thrust of BIR under the leadership of our new regional director,” said Somera.
Somera, however, clarified that they only closed the warehouses which were found to be unregistered but the other facilities of the hardware that are compliant with the tax code will continue to be operational.
Although no legal charges entail with the closure, Somera said that the warehouses cannot resume operations unless they comply with the registration requirement.
Somera said that they have not received any response from Federal North Hardware officers regarding the closure.
Aside from the warehouses, Somera said that they are also conducting an inventory on the compliance of other establishments.
Baronda, for his part, urged business owners to holistically comply with the requirements of the tax bureau and to be truthful in declaring their assets and in paying their tax obligations.