BIR shuts down 103 stores

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The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has closed down 103 stores due to underreporting of sales.

In a statement yesterday, the BIR said based on its investigation, the unidentified chain of shopping centers was found to be using unregistered point of sales (POS) machine, some of which with sales suppression devices while others were using a software different from that approved by the BIR.

The BIR did not name the businesses, but said the products being sold by the stores include appliances, clothing, household wares, furniture and groceries.

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The nationwide closure was conducted last October 13, with the stores located in Manila, Quezon City, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Rizal, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Cavite, Pangasinan, South Cotabato, Iloilo, Leyte and Lanao Del Norte.

“This nationwide closure of a chain of shopping centers is a reminder to all businessmen to register its POS machines and not to tamper with the machines. This is a scheme for sales suppression,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. said.

Lumagui said he has ordered the BIR to investigate all businesses that engage in this kind of tax fraud because it involves under-declaration of sales.

“We will not hesitate to close down all your stores in the country,” Lumagui said.

In a test-buy operation, the BIR chanced upon machines that were only reporting about 25 percent of its sales, thereby drastically reducing its taxable sales.

This chain of shopping centers was found to be in violation of Section 115 of the National Internal Revenue Code and Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 3-2009.

 

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