The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the National Bureau of Investigation seized P544 million in fake tax stamps and materials for the manufacture of fake cigarettes at a warehouse in Barangay Tangub, Bacolod City, Tuesday, May 4, BIR Regional Director Antonio Jaminola said.
The BIR was acting on a tip that fake cigarettes were being manufactured at the facility, but when they broke into the area no one was present, he said.
They discovered the fake BIR stamps, fake cigarettes including raw materials for their manufacture.
Jaminola said those responsible for the manufacture of the fake stamps are liable for tax evasion.
It is a violation of Section 265 of the National Internal Revenue Code, he said, which states that the punishment for the manufacture of fake stamps is a fine of not less than P10 million but not more than P500 million and imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than eight years.
He called on the public to pay their taxes and to report tax evaders saying the government needs help in the collection of taxes, especially as it faces the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tax revenues are needed for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, he said.
A National Bureau of Investigation team from Manila assisted the BIR in the raid, NBI Bacolod chief Renoir Baldovino said.*