TITLE XSTATUTORY
OFFENSES AND PENALTIES
CHAPTER IVOTHER
PENAL
PROVISIONS
SEC.
274. Penalty for Second and Subsequent Offenses. -
In the case of reincidence, the maximum of the penalty prescribed for
the
offense shall be imposed.
SEC.
275. Violation of Other Provisions of this Code or Rules and
Regulations
in General. -
Any person who violates any provision of this Code or any rule or
regulation
promulgated by the Department of Finance, for which no specific penalty
is provided by law, shall, upon conviction for each act or omission, be
punished by a fine of not more than One thousand pesos (P1,000) or
suffer
imprisonment of not more than six (6) months, or both.
SEC.
276. Penalty for Selling, Transferring, Encumbering or in Any Way
Disposing
of Property Placed Under Constructive Distraint. -
Any taxpayer, whose property has been placed under constructive
distraint,
who sells, transfers, encumbers or in any way disposes of said
property,
or any part thereof, without the knowledge and consent of the
Commissioner,
shall, upon conviction for each act or omission, be punished by a fine
of not less than twice the value of the property so sold, encumbered or
disposed of but not less than Five Thousand pesos (P5,000), or suffer
imprisonment
of not less than two (2) years and one (1) day but not more than four
(4)
years, of both.
SEC.
277. Failure to Surrender Property Placed Under Distraint and Levy.
-
Any person having in his possession or under his control any property
or
rights to property, upon which a warrant of constructive distraint, or
actual distraint and levy has been issued shall, upon demand by the
Commissioner
or any of his deputies executing such warrant, surrender such property
or right to property to the Commissioner or any of his deputies, unless
such property or right is, at the time of such demand, subject to an
attachment
or execution under any judicial process. Any person who fails or
refuses
to surrender any of such property or right shall be liable in his own
person
and estate to the Government in a sum equal to the value of the
property
or rights not so surrendered but not exceeding the amount of the taxes
(including penalties and interest) for the collection of which such
warrant
had been issued, together with cost and interest if any, from the date
of such warrant. In addition, such person shall, upon conviction for
each
act or omission, be punished by a fine of not less than Five thousand
pesos
(P5,000), or suffer imprisonment of not less than six (6) months and
one
(1) day but not more than two (2) years, or both.
SEC.
278. Procuring Unlawful Divulgence of Trade Secrets. - Any
person who causes or procures an officer or employee of the Bureau of
Internal
Revenue to divulge any confidential information regarding the business,
income or inheritance of any taxpayer, knowledge of which was acquired
by him in the discharge of his official duties, and which it is
unlawful
for him to reveal, and any person who publishes or prints in any manner
whatever, not provided by law, any income, profit, loss or expenditure
appearing in any income tax return, shall be punished by a fine of not
more than Two thousand pesos (P2,000), or suffer imprisonment of not
less
than six (6) months nor more than five (5) years, or both.
SEC.
279. Confiscation and Forfeiture of the Proceeds or Instruments of
Crime.
- In
addition to the penalty Imposed for the violation of the provisions of
Title X of this Code, the same shall carry with it the confiscation and
forfeiture in favor of the government of the proceeds of the crime or
value
of the goods, and the instruments or tools with which the crime was
committed:
Provided, however, That if in the course of the proceedings, it
is established that the instruments or tools used in the illicit act
belong
to a third person, the same shall be confiscated and forfeited after
due
notice and hearing in a separate proceeding in favor of the Government
if such third person leased, let, chartered or otherwise entrusted the
same to the offender: Provided, further, That in case the
lessee
subleased, or the borrower, charterer, or trustee allowed the use of
the
instruments or tools to the offender, such instruments or tools shall,
likewise, be confiscated and forfeited: Provided, finally, That
property of common carriers shall not be subject to forfeiture when
used
in the transaction of their business as such common carrier, unless the
owner or operator of said common carrier was, at the time of the
illegal
act, a consenting party or privy thereto, without prejudice to the
owner's
right of recovery against the offender in a civil or criminal action.
Articles
which are not subject of lawful commerce shall be destroyed.
SEC.
280. Subsidiary Penalty. -
If the person convicted for violation of any of the provisions of this
Code has no property with which to meet the fine imposed upon him by
the
court, or is unable to pay such fine, he shall be subject to a
subsidiary
personal liability at the rate of one (1) day for each Eight pesos and
fifty centavos (P8.50) subject to the rules established in Article 39
of
the Revised Penal Code.
SEC.
281. Prescription for Violations of any Provision of this Code. - All
violations of any provision of this Code shall prescribe after Five (5)
years.cralaw:red
Prescription shall begin
to run from the day of the commission of the violation of the law, and
if the same be not known at the time, from the discovery thereof and
the
institution of judicial proceedings for its investigation and
punishment.cralaw:red
The prescription shall
be interrupted when proceedings are instituted against the guilty
persons
and shall begin to run again if the proceedings are dismissed for
reasons
not constituting jeopardy.cralaw:red
The term of prescription
shall not run when the offender is absent from the Philippines.
SEC.
282. Informer's Reward to Persons Instrumental in the Discovery of
Violations
of the National Internal Revenue Code and in the Discovery and Seizure
of Smuggled Goods. -
(A) For Violations
of the National Internal Revenue Code. -Any person, except an internal revenue official or employee, or
other
public official or employee, or his relative within the sixth degree of
consanguinity, who voluntarily gives definite and sworn information,
not
yet in the possession of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, leading to the
discovery of frauds upon the internal revenue laws or violations of any
of the provisions thereof, thereby resulting in the recovery of
revenues,
surcharges and fees and/or the conviction of the guilty party and/or
the
imposition of any of the fine or penalty, shall be rewarded in a sum
equivalent
to ten percent (10%) of the revenues, surcharges or fees recovered
and/or
fine or penalty imposed and collected or One Million Pesos (P1,000,000)
per case, whichever is lower. The same amount of reward shall also be
given
to an informer where the offender has offered to compromise the
violation
of law committed by him and his offer has been accepted by the
Commissioner
and collected from the offender: Provided, That should no
revenue,
surcharges or fees be actually recovered or collected, such person
shall
not be entitled to a reward: Provided, further, That the
information
mentioned herein shall not refer to a case already pending or
previously
investigated or examined by the Commissioner or any of his deputies,
agents
or examiners, or the Secretary of Finance or any of his deputies or
agents:
Provided, finally, That the reward provided herein shall be paid
under rules and regulations issued by the Secretary of Finance, upon
recommendation
of the Commissioner.cralaw:red
(B) For Discovery
and Seizure of Smuggled Goods. -To encourage the public to extend full cooperation in eradicating
smuggling,
a cash reward equivalent to ten percent (10%) of the fair market value
of the smuggled and confiscated goods or One Million Pesos (P1,000,000)
per case, whichever is lower, shall be given to persons instrumental in
the discovery and seizure of such smuggled goods.cralaw:red
The cash rewards of
informers shall be subject to income tax, collected as a final
withholding
tax, at a rate of ten percent (10%).
The provisions of the
foregoing Subsections notwithstanding, all public officials, whether
incumbent
or retired, who acquired the information in the course of the
performance
of their duties during their incumbency, are prohibited from claiming
informer's
reward.