According to the Philippine news website Balita, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the Philippines, in cooperation with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police, raided a warehouse in San Pablo City, Laguna province, and seized 102,900 e-cigarette products. Two individuals were arrested in connection with the raid. It is estimated that the total amount of taxes owed by the warehouse is approximately 75.7 million Philippine pesos (1.36 Million USD).
The agency said in a statement on Thursday that the raid was conducted on March 11th. "This successful raid seized a warehouse containing 102,900 bottles of Flava brand e-cigarette products, and this is just one of many actions. BIR supports the government's plan to comprehensively eradicate illegal e-cigarette products," said BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr.
He added, "We warned you as early as 2022. Our raid was successful. We won the criminal case. You have pending arrest warrants. Register and pay the taxes you owe, or face the consequences."
According to the response from the BIR, these suspects will face criminal charges for the following offenses: violating the domestic product tax refund and payment, import tax on goods, payment for cigars and cigarettes; failing to submit and provide correct and accurate information, non-payment, failure to withhold and refund taxes as required, and withholding excessive wages; illegally possessing or removing taxable items without paying taxes; attempting to evade or resist national internal tax laws.
"The BIR is investigating sellers who are not registered or not paying the correct taxes. If you see any e-cigarette stores in your area that are not following the law, you can report them to the BIR. If we find that they are not registered or have not paid the correct taxes, they will face raids and criminal charges," Lumague stated.
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