THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) is working with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to boost efforts against tax evasion and dirty money.
“The BIR and the AMLC will work hand-in-hand to run after criminals engaged in violations of our tax and anti-money laundering laws. These two agencies are uniquely situated because their expertise in catching tax evaders and money launderers complement each other,” the tax bureau said in a statement on Monday.
BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. and AMLC Executive Director Matthew M. David, along with officials of both agencies, met on Aug. 29 to discuss their cooperation. Details of the partnership have yet to be finalized, according to the BIR.
“The meeting involved the topic of interagency cooperation and coordination between the BIR and the AMLC, with the purpose of strengthening enforcement activities against the crimes of tax evasion and money laundering,” the BIR said.
“Tax evaders are now using sophisticated ways of evading taxes and storing their illegal wealth. This interagency cooperation between the BIR and the AMLC will pave the way for future investigations on tax evasion and money laundering,” Mr. Lumagui added.
Enrico P. Villanueva, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines Los Baños Economics Department, said evidence sharing between the BIR and the AMLC would help strengthen case filings.
“Information sharing between BIR and AMLC certainly helps in the fight against tax evasion and money laundering. Corroborative information can be used as evidence in filing legal cases,” Mr. Villanueva said in a social media message. “There may be legal and operational challenges in ensuring that data privacy and deposit secrecy laws are observed in the process of sharing information. Hopefully, the legal teams of BIR and AMLC are looking into those aspects.” — B.M.D. Cruz
