MANILA, 20 May 2005 — Television soap opera queen Judy Ann Santos, popularly known as “Juday,” became the third celebrity yesterday to be charged in the widening crackdown against tax cheats.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue lodged tax evasion charges with the Department of Justice against Santos for allegedly underdeclaring her income in 2002 by 6.7 million pesos.
In a press conference, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the cases against the celebrities should give a signal to all would-be tax cheats that the government means business.
“We will not compromise. We will pursue these (cases) to the very end because we want to send a message that it is no longer business as usual,” Purisima said.
Criminal charges have earlier been filed against matinee heart-throb Richard Gomez and Regine Velasquez, one of the country’s most popular singers, for paying much less than what they owe the government.
A separate industry-wide audit is under way with a view to flushing out more tax evaders in the entertainment sector, and preliminary surveys indicate widespread violations, said Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Guillermo Parayno.
Parayno said the BIR had found “very low compliance” when the agency studied the 2003 tax declarations of 40 movie stars and show biz personalities.
Some 92.5 percent of these movie personalities paid only between zero and 1.5 percent tax on their gross incomes. They typically claimed “unreasonable deductions,” Parayno said.
“These are really very bad compliance rates, and we have to do something very drastic,” he added.
President Arroyo plucked out Parayno from early retirement to clean up the BIR, known as one of the most corrupt government agencies, amid a growing national budget deficit.
Parayno, a former military officer, had spent much of his time in government fighting graft, first with the defunct Economic Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (EIIB) and then as head of the Bureau of Customs, another graft-ridden agency.
Purisima said the campaign is part of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s efforts, along with new tax legislation, to raise state revenues by 80 billion pesos annually to avoid a looming fiscal crisis.
Gomez was accused of failing to declare four years’ worth of income, while Santos and Velasquez were accused of failing to pay a years’ worth of income taxes.
The amounts involved were not disclosed but Parayno said the amounts involved were “substantial.”
“Power and fame is not a ticket to immunity,” Finance Undersecretary Noel Bonoan also told a news conference.
“Having power, fame and money gives you added burden ... to pay the right taxes so this money can go to the proper utilization, for government social spending programs in housing, in education, and in infrastructure,” he added.
Purisima said they are not targeting the entertainment industry and that this was just part of a general campaign against tax evaders.
Among the other personalities charged earlier by the BIR were Edgardo Tecson Yambao and wife Maria Isabel, Douglas Quijano, Vincent Lim of Columbia Sports, Philippines Inc., and basketball star Paul Asi Taulava.
Also charged were Dr. Joel Cortez Mendez of the Mendez Medical Group, Cristina Aboitiz-Juan and officers of Fitness by Design Inc., retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia who is facing graft charges for unexplained wealth, Enrique Sobrepe?a Jr. and other officers of CAP Pension and CAP College Assurance Plan, Eliseo Co of Divisoria Dried Fish Center and General Merchandising, Renato Herrera of Glo Herbal, Jose Luis Melo Santiago and other officers of PT&T, and Fernando Francisco and other officers of Italcar. ((With reports from Inquirer News Service & agencies)
