MANILA - The condominium unit in upscale Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles, California maybe under her name but Jeane Catherine Napoles, the most high profile of alleged "pork" scam architect Janet Lim Napoles' children, insists that the P54.73 million property is actually owned by her parents.
Now in London, as her eight-page counter-affidavit on tax evasion charges submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday shows, Napoles denied non-payment of income taxes to the Philippine government for taxable years 2011 and 2012, the same years records show she acquired the California property and a lot in Bayambang, Pangasinan where she has a P1.49 million share.
Napoles subscribed to her counter-affidavit before Consul-General Senen Mangalile of the Philippine Embassy in the United Kingdom. Her lawyer submitted the document to handling fiscal Assistant State Prosecutor Stewart Allan Mariano.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) slapped the younger Napoles with a P32.06 million tax evasion complaint, alleging that she did not file any income tax return (ITR) for the above-mentioned years.
The BIR also said that no donor's tax nor estate tax was paid by Ms. Napoles to prove that the properties were given to her as gifts or donations.
The expenditure method of investigation was used by the BIR in arriving at Ms. Napoles' alleged tax liability: her unreported income was established by comparing the amount of money she spent to purchase the properties and her unreported income.
The BIR claims Ms. Napoles acquired a tax identification number (TIN) in 2008, but has not filed any ITR ever since.
The preliminary investigation into the complaint against Ms. Napoles will resume on Feb. 18, to coincide with the hearing on her parents' separate tax evasion case.
The BIR is running after P44.68 million in unpaid taxes from Mrs. Napoles, while her husband, Jaime, faces a P16.43 million tax evasion case.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
