FAKE CIGARETTES. Bureau of Internal Revenue personnel check the fake cigarettes confiscated by government agents following two separate raids in Barangays Cugman and Bayabas on Tuesday (Jan. 21, 2020). The seized products were presented to the media on Wednesday. (PNA photo by Jigger J. Jerusalem)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Fake cigarette products with an estimated PHP882 million excise tax deficiency were confiscated by a joint team of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Tuesday afternoon.
The 4,707 boxes of cigarettes were seized by authorities in two separate raids in warehouses in Barangay Bayabas and Barangay Cugman, this city, according to lawyer Jonaidah Darimbang of the BIR-Northern Mindanao’s legal department.
Darimbang said the raids were carried out after the BIR received a tip from an informant.
She said BIR Regional Director Nuzar Balatero issued mission order nos. 10756 and 10766 dated January 21, 2020 authorizing the agents to raid a warehouse in Cugman and another one in Bayabas.
Darimbang said some 3,000 boxes of cigarettes were seized at the Bayabas warehouse with excise tax deficiency of PHP562.5 million, while 1,707 boxes were seized at the Cugman facility with excise tax deficiency of PHP320 million, or a total of PHP882 million.
The excise tax deficiency, she said, refers to the excise taxes that were not collected by the BIR due to the illegal manufacture of products such as cigarettes.
“With the use of the BIR Taggant Reader, a device used to detect whether or not the BIR stamp is fake, various brands of cigarettes were found to have fake BIR stamps or no stamps at all,” the BIR official told reporters when the seized items were presented to the media in a storage facility in Bayabas on Wednesday.
Among the brands confiscated bore the names YS Filter, RED, Jackpot, Bravo, Marvels, Astro, and Two Moon.
“These cigarettes were confiscated in gross violation of Sections 130 in relation to Section 255, 236 in relation to Section 258, Section 263 and Section 265 of the National Internal Revenue Code as amended,” Darimbang said.
Sections 236 and 258 refer to the unlawful pursuit of business; sections 130 and 255, failure to file excise tax returns; section 263, unlawful possession or removal of articles subject to excise tax without payment of tax; and section 265, unlawful possession of spurious internal revenue stamps.
Darimbang said both the BIR and NBI have yet to identify the persons behind the illegal manufacture of the cigarettes, adding that that will be their next step as a requirement for the filing of appropriate cases.
She said they also have to verify if the confiscated products are made locally or in another country. (PNA)
