December 17, 2010

While no one was looking...

...the Bureau of Internal Revenue quietly changed its list of the Top 500 Individual Taxpayers of 2009. As per media colleague Inday Espina-Varona of ABS-CBN's Boto Mo Patrol Mo group, one of those named in the initial list actually only paid P300,000 and not the P57 million as purported by the government agency. The person complained that that kind of wrong info would attract kidnappers, when he/she was basically just from the middle class...not that anyone deserves to be kidnapped.

Of course, there are still lingering questions on why some taipans (and taipanettes) are not included in this list. I can only say, those guys may have hired better accountants and tax lawyers to do their taxes. In fact, one former BIR tax agent is reportedly the tax accountant of a major Philippine company with Castilaloy leanings. As you know, BIR employees know enough of the country's tax laws and tax codes to exploit any possible loopholes. So there.

Anyhoo, this is the updated BIR list. Thanks for the heads up, Inday.

Top 500 Individual Taxpayers 2009 (Updated)

No comments: