THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved the filing of tax evasion case against online news outfit Rappler.
The DOJ’s approval came almost four months after the case was submitted for resolution.
The complaint against Rappler was filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) last March. Based on the complaint, Rappler Holdings Corp. (RHC) purchased common shares from Rappler, Inc. worth P19,245,975. Then, it issued and sold Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to two foreign firms worth P181,658,758.
The BIR alleged the company is liable for non-payment of P133,841,305 — broken down into P91,320,481 in income tax and P42,520,824 in value-added tax (VAT) — for the year 2015.
BIR said RHC used the same common shares it purchased from Rappler as the underlying share of the PDRs for profit and transmitted economic rights to the PDR holders.