Trustees found to be untrustworthy in filing correct Income Taxes

A case of unworthy trustees

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) today filed with the Department of Justice two (2) more cases of tax evasion against two board of trustees of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), ESPERANZA S. OCAMPO (Ocampo) and MARIO L. RAMIREZ (Ramirez), for violations of Sections 254 and 255 of the Tax Code of 1997, as amended.

Ocampo and Ramirez, it can be recalled, were among the subjects of a Senate Committee on Finance inquiry on Government Owned and Controlled Corporations and Government Financial Institutions executives who were alleged to have received excessive and unwarranted bonuses and allowances.

Thru this inquiry the BIR to looked into their financial transactions aided by documents obtained from the GSIS on the income payments they received as directors (not employees) and certifications from concerned BIR offices on their Annual Income Tax Returns (ITRs) records.

BIR investigators discovered that both Ocampo and Ramirez received taxable income from GSIS as members of the Board of Trustees amounting to P27,704,871.11 and P18,304,552.66, respectively, but deliberately and repeatedly concealed and failed to declare the same income.

A verification from the Returns Processing System of the BIR’s Integrated Tax System (computer system) also exposed their willful and repetitive  failure  to file their ITRs and pay their income taxes.

Ocampo and Ramirez are Filipino Citizens deriving income from within the Philippines. As such, they are subject to income tax and are mandated to declare all their income for each taxable year and pay the corresponding taxes due thereon.

Ocampo, a resident of 59 Zapote, Bacoor, Cavite, was charged of attempt to evade or defeat payment of taxes and failure to file Annual Income Tax Returns and to pay tax for taxable years 2004 to 2010. Her estimated aggregate tax liabilities is P13,783,483.54, inclusive of surcharges and interests. 

Ramirez, a resident of 402 Cattleya Cond. Salcedo St., Legazpi Village, Makati, was likewise charged of attempt to evade or defeat payment of taxes and failure to file Annual Income Tax Returns and to pay tax for taxable years 2008 to 2010. His estimated aggregate tax liabilities is P9,366,580.93, inclusive of surcharges and interests.

The cases against ESPERANZA S. OCAMPO and MARIO L. RAMIREZ are the forty-sixth (46^th) and forty-seventh (47^th) filed under the RATE program of the BIR under the leadership of Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares