BIR: ‘Flexing’ skincare entrepreneur has billions in tax liabilities

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is now computing the tax liabilities of a beauty products and skincare entrepreneur it earlier described as “flexing” on social media.

The bureau considers the individual another “big fish” caught with billions of pesos worth of tax violations.

“Nabigyan na sila ng [Letter of Authority]… natapos na. Nagko-compute pa lang as to magkano ‘yung magiging liability niyan,” BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. told reporters at the sidelines of a partnership renewal signing with multi-sectoral groups on Tuesday.

Letter of Authority or LOA refers to a formal document issued by the taxman that grants its examiners the authority to audit, examine, and scrutinize the records, books, and other pertinent documents of an individual or entity.

Last month, Lumagui revealed that the BIR is going after a beauty products and skincare entrepreneur engaged in e-commerce or online selling who has allegedly failed to pay the right amount of taxes to the government. 

Without going into further details, the BIR chief said that “ang initial findings niyan, malaki-laki talaga.”

“Dahil nakita na nga natin na hindi rehistrado ang mga warehouse niya at maraming mga produkto na ‘yung benta niya ay hindi nagtutugma sa reported revenues,” Lumagui said.

With this, the taxman’s chief said that the skincare entrepreneur could be considered a “big fish” caught by the BIR.

“Kung bilyon bilyon ang sinasabi natin [violations] definitely, big fish ‘yan dahil nakita natin bilyon bilyon ang revenues nitong entrepreneur,” Lumagui said.

In a bid to capture the growing e-commerce space, the BIR now requires merchants or sellers in online platforms to pay withholding tax, effective on July 15, 2024. 

“Patuloy naman ang paghahabol natin sa malalaking mga negosyante na hindi nagbabayad ng tamang buwis,” he said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News