Tax informers are entitled to 10 percent or P1 million, whichever is lower

Based on a DOJ opinion, tax informers are entitled to 10 percent or P1 million, whichever is lower.


Tax informer cries plunder, says he is entitled to P1B reward
By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:46:00 12/17/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Failing to get what he believed was a P1.13 billion reward due him, a tax informer filed plunder charges against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Bureau of Internal Revenue officials led by Commissioner Kim Henares on Friday.

Danilo Lihaylihay, who earlier also claimed that he was entitled to P11.875 trillion in partial claims for helping the recovery of the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth, said De Lima and Henares had refused to give him the reward and thus unjustly enriched themselves or the state at his expense.

Lihaylihay said he was entitled to P1.13 billion because the reward was supposed to amount to 25 percent of the amount he had helped recover.

Henares earlier said that informants should get 10 percent or P1 million, whichever is lower.

In the complaint he filed at the Office of the Ombudsman, Lihaylihay said that he had written the BIR earlier this year asking for his reward for acting as informant in tax cases where the government was able to collect the amounts due to it. He said that under the law, he was entitled to 25 percent of the recovered amount.

But he said that despite his letters to the BIR, which passed through several officials and which was backed by a referral from the Office of the President, his demand has not been met.

He said that the BIR officials, instead of giving him his money, “illegally connived” with De Lima and caused the publication of a new DOJ opinion that revoked the ruling of former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez saying that the reward should be 25 percent of the recovered amount.

With this DOJ opinion, the DOJ and the BIR officials misappropriated or malversed his money, Lihaylihay said.

“All public respondents illegally confederated with one another in robbing-off herein complainant's P1.130-B trust/reward monies and/or amassing, accumulating, or acquiring ill-gotten wealth through conversion, misappropriation or malversation of public trust funds (informer's reward monies), by the issuance and/or implementation of DOJ Opinion No. 48,” he said.

He added that the officials had taken advantage of their official positions, authority, connections and influence to unjustly enrich themselves or the state, to his detriment.