The Bureau of Internal Revenue has warned that it will look closely into the alleged non-issuance of receipts practiced by a number of lending agencies in Dumaguete City.

Jose Senador, chief of the taxpayers' service section of BIR in Oriental Negros, issued the warning after receiving at least 21 complaints from borrowers against the alleged malpractice of some lending institutions.

Senador explained that lending firms lend money to different classes of people but, at times, when borrowers failed to pay their debts, the agency is forced to file a collection case against them in court.

In retaliation, he said, delinquent borrowers go to the BIR to complain that the lending agencies were not issuing official receipts.

Senador clarified that if the complaint is properly documented, BIR could run after the agency and penalize it for not issuing a receipt.

The penalty could be as low as P10,000 or as high as P20,000, or imprisonment from four to six years.

He said that BIR will soon conduct tax-mapping for lending institutions that are sprouting in Dumaguete City.*RG

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