CIGARETTE tax stamp violators beware as the authorities are tightening their implementation of the sin tax law with their Thursday (May 18) raid in four stalls in the Carbon Public Market in Cebu City, yielding 10 master cases or 5,000 packs of mix-branded cigarettes.
Lawyer Ivan Cang of the Bureau of Internal Revenue Regional Investigation Division (BIR RID – 7) said in a phone interview on Thursday that the confiscated 5,000 packs of cigarettes had fake tax stamps on the cigarette packages.
Cang said that a tax stamp is with the mandated excise tax for tobacco products.
Imposing the sin tax law, Cang said that the items would have an accumulated final tax value of not less than P162,500.
Under the Sin Tax Law of the Philippines, each pack of cigarette should be imposed with an excise tax of P32.50.
Prior to the operation, Cang said that they have placed the stalls under surveillance for two weeks.
Cang said that they also tried to purchase cigarettes from the apprehended stalls, hence, they found out that the stamp tax on the cigarette packaging are fake.
Although no arrest was made, Cang said that the owners of the stall where they seized the items will face charges for violation of the National Revenue Code.
The violations were in consonance with the Unlawful Possession or Removal of Articles Subject to Excise Tax without Payment of the Tax, Attempt to Evade or Defeat Tax, Failure to File Return, Supply Correct and Accurate Information, Pay Tax Withhold and Remit Tax and Refund Excess Taxes Withheld on Compensation.
If found guilty, the owners should pay the accumulated excise taxes and fines of not less than P100,000 and imprisonment of one to 10 years.
Cang said that they are also verifying if the owners have registered their operation in BIR.
He said that if they found out that the stores were not registered, this would constitue to another violation of the revenue law.
On May 10, BIR also padlocked 4 unregistered warehouses of a hardware company in Cebu City.