A holding affiliate of news website Rappler and its president Maria Ressa have been charged with tax evasion in the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) and the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC). The criminal charges filed by Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors stemmed from Rappler Holdings Corp.’s (RHC) alleged failure to declare a P162.41-million profit from the issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) in 2015. Pasig court caseOne more count of violation of Section 255—concerning the VAT return for the second quarter of 2015—was filed in an RTC in Pasig City. The charges were filed even as RHC and Ressa’s appeal was still pending in the DOJ, which found probable cause to order their indictment in an Oct. 2 resolution. Acting on the BIR complaint, the DOJ ruled that the PDR transactions were a form of securities trading, which should have been reported for tax purposes.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer November 29, 2018 21:33 UTC