Owner of padlocked supermart couldn’t believe tax liability
ROXAS CITY – The owner of Black and White Supermart expressed disbelief that their tax liability covering January 2008 to March 2009 as declared by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reached to P64 million.
Black and White Supermart was closed by BIR’s “Oplan Kandado” operation recently.
Mr. Leny Albert Apaitan, owner of Black and White Supermart, in a press release sent to the media here, said that it is impossible for a small store like theirs to have such a very high tax obligation.
“There is no way we can ever pay such overwhelming tax charges,” he lamented.
Apaitan, president of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce Capiz Chapter, said that he is a law-abiding citizen with a high-paying tax record and has no record of tax evasion which according to him, the local BIR can vouch for his claim.
According to him, he respected the said finding as they submitted themselves for further scrutiny and made representation to the BIR-Capiz District Officer to negotiate for an amendment to the above tax charges where the BIR agreed on it before the end of August.
However, he lamented that despite such agreement of the amended deal, BIR-Manila effected a closure order.
He also lamented that the closure seriously affected not only his business, but also suppliers, customers (especially out-of-town customers) but most especially the 100 daily-wage employees, 150 merchandisers, and 100 more wage earner in a their party homegrown local suppliers, who depend their families’ daily needs from their income from the store
Last August 24, BIR led by its Regional Director Alert Alocilja, padlocked the WTO Trading owned by Filipino-Chinese businessman Kenny Sy on Roxas Avenue and Black and White Supermart and Pharmacy owned by Apaitan.
Alocilja said the BIR’s “Oplan Kandado” is a national campaign to close business establishments violating the BIR code.
He added that the establishments failed to register with the Valued Added Tax (VAT), failed to issue VAT receipts, and under declared their gross sales.
According to him, WTO Trading has also incurred its tax payable to BIR in the amount of P2.9 million.
Alocilja said the said establishments were given due process and ample time to secure and correct the violations but the owners ignored it.
The three business establishments were ordered close by BIR Commissioner Sixto Esquivias