BIR San Pedro Closes Family-Owned Chain of Supermarkets

May 20, 2009

A chain of (seven) supermarkets catering to customers within San Pedro, Laguna and its periphery owned and operated by siblings of a well-known clan in the said place was closed down by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) yesterday for various violations of the National Internal Revenue of 1997 as amended (Tax Code).

Revenue Region (RR) No. 9, San Pablo City Regional Director Nestor S. Valeroso said the closure of the said chain of supermarkets was an exercise of political will.

“We have to carry out our duties as mandated by the Tax Code. Even if it is unpopular and we need to do it, we have no choice but heed the mandate of the majesty of the law. The closure of this chain of supermarkets showed our political will in the exercise of the power of taxation,” said Director Valeroso.

Temporarily suspended from conducting their business operations after the Closure Orders signed by BIR Commissioner Sixto S. Esquivias IV were served and enforced were “The Reysal Marketing Corporation” (RMC) in Biñan, Laguna, “Reysal Shopsmart, Inc.” (RSI) in San Pedro, Laguna, and “Florita Supermarket Specialist, Inc.” (FSSI) in Cabuyao, Laguna. The Biñan branch of RMC was likewise closed while the branches of RSI in Sta. Rosa (2) and San Pedro also suffered the same fate.

The closure orders came after the said business establishments failed to comply with the 48 Hour Notice and Five Day VAT Notice issued and served by the BIR. The said notices gave the three corporations the opportunity to explain their side and present evidence to dispute the BIR findings.

Field men from BIR Revenue District Office (RDO) No. 57, San Pedro, Laguna uncovered under-declarations of sales of more than thirty per cent (30%) after comparing the declarations of the subject businesses with the results of reading of their point-of-sales machines: RMC – 55% under-declaration for taxable year 2007/65% for 2008; RSI – 50% for 2007/60% for 2008; and FSSI – 65% for 2007/30% for 2008.

RMC, RSI, and FSSI became the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth (15^th) business establishments to be closed by the BIR nationwide. According to Revenue District Officer Julio G. Alcasabas of RDO No. 57, San Pedro, Laguna, many more non-complying taxpayers are still in the pipeline – waiting to be padlocked!

Among those previously padlocked by the BIR under this program were: 1) La Suerte Grocery & Bakery in Magalang, Pampanga for failure to declare more than P50M income in 2008; 2) Charmy Food Phils., Inc., a manufacturer of soybean products in Pasig City, for not declaring P40M of its sales for 2005-2008; 3) Arra’s Fine Dining, a Korean Restaurant in Makati City for understatement of its taxable sales in 2008 by more than P20M; 4) Hilton Mart Corporation, a Grocery (Wholesale and Retail) business plying its trade in Manila, for underdeclaring its sales for taxable year 2008 by more than P1.2B; 5) Skywater Enterprises in Davao City for underdeclaring its sales by P12,590,943.55 in 2008; and 6) Wil-An Mart, a wholesale and retail grocery business in Manila, with sales underdeclaration in 2008 of 196.24% or P142,466,017.80.

Oplan Kandado is the flagship project of the BIR initiated by Commissioner Esquivias which aims to strictly enforce sanctions for non-compliance by business establishments with requirements of the Tax Code. RR No. 9, San Pablo City Assistant Regional Director Teresita M. Dizon believes that through Oplan Kandado, taxpayers will be compelled not only to comply with the requirements of the Tax Code but also to pay the correct taxes in conducting business, lest their operations will be subject to closure by the BIR.

Present during the closure operations were BIR Officer-In-Charge (OIC) Deputy Commissioner Nelson M. Aspe, RR No. 9, San Pablo City Revenue District Officers and other BIR Officials and personnel, members of the media and the Philippine National Police.

Aspe for his part said that the BIR under whatever circumstances must enforce the law. “We must make sure that the spirit of the law prevails. But while we implement the law, we must however extend a helping hand to taxpayers when the situation (and law) calls for it. We should not be totally blind to their plight,” he stressed. The amiable OIC is the Chairperson of the Handang Maglingkod Program (HMP) of the BIR which aims to provide assistance to taxpayers through the one-stop service counters of BIR offices nationwide. (rtdlc)