By Jenniffer B. Austria | Sep. 05,
2014 at 11:01pm [ manilastandardtoday.com ]
Six business groups on Friday asked
the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against the Bureau of
Internal Revenue and the Securities and Exchange Commission from forcing listed
companies to disclose in alphabetical list all stockholders receiving
dividends.
The Philippine Stock Exchange, the
Bankers Association of the Philippines, Philippine Association of Securities
Brokers and Dealers Inc., Fund Managers Association of the Philippines, Trust
Officers Association of the Philippines and Marmon Holdings Inc. also asked the
high tribunal to declare Revenue Regulations No. 01-14 and SEC Memorandum
Circular No. 10 Series of 2014 null and void.
“Unless the Supreme Court immediately
issues a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction,
petitioners and their officers will be in situation where they risk
administrative sanctions and criminal prosecution whether or not they comply
with the questioned regulations,” the groups said.
The petitioners said if they complied
with the questioned rulings, their clients/investors could hold them criminally
liable for violating the confidentiality provisions under the General Banking
Law.
They said if they did not comply with
the new regulations, they risked being administratively investigated and/or
criminally prosecuted for violation of various provisions of the Tax Code and
the Securities Regulation Code.
BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said the
ruling should have been implemented long before and the industry’s reaction has
only strengthened her resolve to go after tax cheats.
“Why would you complain if in the
first place, you have reported it when you should be reporting it and when you
should be paying taxes on it,” Henares said in a Sept. 3 interview.
“So, you’re complaining now makes me
think that you haven’t been paying the right tax,” she said, referring to
investors and issuers.
The BIR in January this year issued RR
1-2014, which required withholding agents to submit an alphabetical list of
payees on income payment, subject to creditable and final withholding
taxes. The circular requires that
withholding agents indicate in the alphalist the tax identification numbers,
complete names, income amount and tax withheld from its payees.
SEC also issued MC 10-14 to compel
other market participants, such as broker dealers and other depository account
holders, to provide the information needed by listed companies to comply with
the questioned revenue regulations.
The petitioner said RR 01-14 and the
SEC Memorandum Circular No. 10 Series of 2014 were “issued without any jurisdiction
or with grave discretion amounting to lack of excess of jurisdiction.”
“Respondents, in the guise of tax
administration, have jeopardized not only the stability of the Philippine
capital market but also the liberty, properties, privacy, and security of the
market participants, which includes the petitioners,” the groups said. With
Bloomberg
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