President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected the proposal of homegrown cigarette maker Mighty Corporation to settle its unpaid taxes on an installment basis, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said.
"Actually it was the President who said that he's going to accept an offer from Mighty Corporation for Php3-billion. Okay sa Mighty 'yun," Aguirre told reporters last week.
"As a matter of fact gusto nilang staggered (basis of P1 billion) pero ayaw ng Presidente ng staggered katulad nung kay Jack Lam," he said, referring to the Chinese tycoon who allegedly failed to remit P13.9 billion from earnings in his online gambling business to the government.
President Duterte had said he wants Lam to pay off his liabilities at once.
Mighty Corporation and its officials are currently facing a P9.56-billion tax evasion complaint before the Department of Justice which stemmed from the discovery of fake tax stamps on its cigarette packs following a government raid on its Pampanga warehouse.
More tax raps are being prepared by the government, the Department of Finance had said, which would cover the raids conducted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs in Zamboanga City, General Santos City, Cebu, Tacloban City and Bulacan.
Aguirre, however, pointed to the possibility that the government and Mighty Corporation may still enter into a compromise deal which is allowed under the Tax Code.
"It's a possibility that there could be a compromise on this because the law specifically allows compromise dito sa payment ng unpaid taxes," he said.
The three-man panel of prosecutors formed by Aguirre has yet to hold a preliminary investigation on the tax evasion complaint, a process aimed at determining whether the charges should be dismissed or forwarded to the Court of Tax Appeals for trial and resolution.
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