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)

Top taxpayers in the Philippines 2009

Celebrities, businessmen among top taxpayers

MANILA, Philippines - Celebrities like Wilfredo "Willie" B. Revillame and businessmen like San Miguel Corp. top honcho Ramon S. Ang landed on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) list of the biggest taxpayers for 2009, along with telecommunication giants Smart Communications, Inc. and Globe Telecom, Inc.

The lists of top 500 individual and top 500 corporate taxpayers have been published on the bureau’s Web site, in compliance with Section 71 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 that states "the Commissioner may... publish a list containing the names and addresses of persons who have filed income tax returns," BIR Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares said in a phone interview Sunday. (The rest at ABS-CBN.)

FOR the public's convenience, here are the lists of the top 500 individual and corporate taxpayers in the Philippines, as per the Bureau of Internal Revenue:

Top 500 Individual and Corp. Taxpayers 2009