Huwebes, Mayo 2, 2013

Tax charges vs Corona set


DISGRACED CHIEF Justice Renato C. Corona will be facing tax evasion charges worth over ₱120 million for failure to file his income tax return for several years, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).

THEN CHIEF Justice Renato C. Corona being sworn in during the impeachment trial -- BW file photo
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In a 65-page resolution dated April 26 and released to the media yesterday, state lawyers led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Rosanne G. Elepaño said "there is probable cause that respondent [Mr. Corona] committed the crime of tax evasion and willful failure to file his income tax returns (ITRs) for taxable years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2010" worth ₱120,498,219.52, inclusive of surcharges and interest.

The charges were based on complaints filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Aug. 30, 2012 using evidence presented during his impeachment trial at the Senate, including Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), deeds of sale, and bank accounts.

The chief justice was ousted by the Senate on May 29, 2012 after he was found guilty of betraying public trust for failing to declare all his assets in his SALN.

"The information thus obtained showed respondent Corona had cash assets deposited in various banks and undeclared real properties," read a statement from the DoJ released yesterday.

"These all point to the respondent’s underdeclaration of his taxable income by more than 30%, which is sufficient to constitute prima facie evidence of a fraudulent return."

The BIR claimed Mr. Corona undervalued three of his properties and underdeclared cash by ₱17.3 million and ₱134.44 million, respectively, as well as failed to declare two other properties valued at ₱12.75 million.

The DoJ panel, affirming the BIR findings, then recommended that "criminal information against him [Mr. Corona] should be filed covering the aforementioned taxable years" as the issue can be "best addressed in a full-blown trial."

Sought for comment, the former chief justice said via text that he never expected fair treatment from the government.

"What fairness could I have expected from the DoJ whose head, Secretary [Leila M.] de Lima, testified against me during my sham impeachment trial," he said.

Mr. Corona reiterated his innocence, saying, "I do not owe any tax liability to the government. I have never in all my life ever received even a single notice of deficiency assessment from the BIR."

"The contrived claims of the BIR will fall flat on its face because they are without legal, factual and moral bases, and are just part of the continuing political harassment and persecution that they have been incessantly inflicting on me," he added.

Meanwhile, the BIR also filed tax evasion complaints against Mr. Corona’s daughter Ma. Carla Beatriz C. Castillo and husband Constantino T. Castillo III for alleged income tax liabilities of ₱20.24 million and ₱9.93 million, respectively.

Their cases are still pending before the DoJ.

The Castillos were dragged into the impeachment trial after the bureau found out that they bought certain properties named after Mr. Corona.

The cases were filed under the BIR’s Run After Tax Evaders program.

Mr. Corona was an appointee of then president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, but his assumption to the highest judicial post was rocked by controversy as it was done during an election ban on appointments, prompting President Benigno S. C. Aquino III to personally lobby for his removal from office.

His appointment was, however, upheld by the Supreme Court which ruled that its justices are exempt from the constitutional restriction. -- D. E. D. Saclag