Contrary to the claim of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Flowers by Sylvia did pay its income tax for 2012 (“This time, BIR goes after florists,” News, 4/24/14). As a matter of fact, Flowers by Sylvia paid on Jan. 25, 2013, through Security Bank three months ahead of the April 15 deadline as attested to by Mafe Pagkalinawan, assistant revenue district officer of BIR Muntinlupa. Pagkalinawan said the records show that the payment was received on Jan. 25, 2013, but the agency was unable to
encode the ITR (income tax return) data in their computer until much later.
The BIR even issued Flowers by Sylvia a tax clearance in May of 2013. The BIR should be more thorough with its systems check as this misinformation is highly detrimental and
unjust, and should not have occurred.
—SYLVIA C. PIMENTEL,
Flowers by Sylvia