March 25, 2015
Visayan Daily Star by Carla Gomez | http://goo.gl/TgkhXf
All the sugar federations will file cases against traders who deduct a 12 percent Valued Added Tax from raw sugar they bid for and buy starting today, Manuel Lamata, president of the United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines, warned yesterday.
The deduction is being anticipated following the Bureau of Internal Revenue issuance of Revenue Regulation No. 4-2015 that imposes12 percent advance VAT Tax on raw and refined sugar, which the sugar federations are questioning.
There is a preliminary injunction that prohibits the BIR from imposing the 12 percent VAT on raw sugar. The new BIR regulation is seen as an issuance to circumvent the preliminary injunction. What cannot be legally done directly cannot be done indirectly.
The preliminary injunction was issued by Cadiz City RTC Branch 60 in October 2013.
The traders are warned that there is a preliminary injunction on the imposition on VAT, Lamata said.
“If you deduct the VAT from the ongoing price we will file civil and criminal cases against you, plus you will be held in contempt of court,” he said.