THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) yesterday filed tax evasion and other criminal cases against 23 corporations, their corporate officers as well as certified public accountants for their alleged use of “ghost” receipts.
BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. led the filing of the cases, which he said deprived the government of P1.41 billion in taxes.
“We have filed criminal cases against those who used ghost receipts. This involves 23 corporations, 56 corporate officers, and 17 accountants, all of whom are involved in the use of ghost receipts to evade payment of taxes,” Lumagui told reporters after the filing.
“Ghost” receipts are receipts with fictitious underlying transactions where buyers of the same declare in their tax returns to lessen their tax payments.
The criminal complaints involved multiple cases of tax evasion, failure to supply correct and accurate information, perjury and false reporting relative to ghost receipts.
Lumagui said the respondent corporations, corporate officers and accountants were involved in the business of construction, food, electronics, manufacturing, entertainment, retail, and marketing.
The BIR complaint alleged that respondents supposedly “obtained multiple suspicious purchases from ghost corporations or those corporations that exists only on paper but without actual business operations, employees or tangible assets.”
“These suspicious purchases were linked to ghost receipts which have no actual transactions and were only used to create the appearance of legitimate business expenses or purchases to lower tax payments,” it added.
Lumagui said the BIR will continue its drive against tax evaders, whether they are small or big corporations.
“We will go after not only small companies but also the big ones. We will not stop filing tax evasion cases against those who use ghost receipts,” he said.
The BIR has posted strong growth in tax collections over the past year, with revenues rising by 13.29 percent in 2024 to P2.852 trillion. For the first half of 2025, collections continued to grow by 14.11 percent, reaching P1.55 trillion from January to June, which is
Lumagui has credited the growth in tax collections to specific sectors, among them the arts, entertainment, and recreation.
He said there has also been a surge in contributions from small taxpayers, or those earning gross revenues between P3 million and P20 million annually.
During the same interview, Lumagui said the BIR is open investigate businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang for tax violations if there is sufficient information.
“We will look into all of that once we have information that we can start with… because we want everyone to pay the right taxes,” he said, even as he clarified that no one has asked the BIR to look into Ang’s businesses or possible tax violations.
Ang has been charged with multiple murder and serious illegal detention cases in relation to allegedly masterminding the abduction and killing of at least 34 “sabungeros” or cockfighting enthusiasts who have gone missing since 2021.
Aside from multiple murder and serious illegal detention, Ang is also facing direct bribery and obstruction of justice over the sabungeros case.
