By Moira Encina
Eagle News Service
The Bureau of Internal Revenue has filed tax evasion complaints against businessman Kenneth Dong and Mark Taguba, who were both implicated in the P6.4-billion shabu shipment mess in May.
BIR commissioner Caesar Dulay said the charges against Yi Shen Dong, Dong’s real name, stem from his failure to pay taxes amounting to P11.4 million from 2003 to 2017.
Dulay said Dong himself admitted in congressional hearings that he never paid any taxes from his earnings from transactions with Taguba, and that he gave contributions to the campaigns of some candidates.
Dulay said he did not file income tax returns, value added tax returns nor percentage tax returns for years up to 2017, and did not declare his earnings from 2013 to 2016.
He said this was despite the fact that Dong purchased expensive vehicles from 2013 to 2016 and a townhouse unit in Paranaque in 2013, and received compensation from Asuki Weighing System in 2013 and 2015.
According to the BIR commissioner, the charges against Taguba stem from his failure to pay P850.57 million in taxes from 2009 to 2016.
Dulay said that based on testimony from Taguba in Congress, he is paid P170,000 to P190,000 per container van which manages to enter the country.
Based on data from the Bureau of Customs and from the congressional hearings, Taguba managed to facilitate the entry of 7458 container vans in 2016, and 7694 in 2017.
Dulay said based on this information, Taguba earned almost P1.3 billion pesos in 2016 alone.
According to the BIR commissioner, Taguba also failed to register his trucking business and other ventures.
The charges filed by the BI are apart from the drug-related charges filed against Dong and Taguba in connection with the shabu shipment.