FALSE: Marcos Jr. submitted correct receipt for tax deficiencies payment

At a glance

• Claim: Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. submitted the correct receipt for the payment of his tax deficiencies.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: The receipt submitted by the Marcos camp was for lease rental, and not for the payment of his tax deficiencies. The term “account symbol” does not refer to the number of the Bureau of Internal Revenue form. It is also not an original copy of the receipt but only a photocopy.
• Why we fact-checked this: Several Facebook pages and accounts shared a copy of the receipt that has been circulating on social media, supposedly to prove that Marcos Jr. has paid his tax deficiencies.

Complete details

Several users and pages on Facebook posted on January 29 and 30 about a copy of the receipt of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s settlement of his tax deficiencies. Marcos is facing disqualification for his failure to pay income taxes for the four years he was an official of Ilocos Norte during his father’s dictatorship.

The captions of the posts said that the “0605” under the account symbol in the photo refers to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) payment form.

This claim is false.

Marcos’ camp submitted a receipt that says he paid his deficiency taxes. Retired Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon and her lawyer found out that the receipt from the Land Bank of the Philippines was for the payment of lease rentals. 

Guanzon says, “They have no certified copy that they paid their deficiency taxes. Noong sinuri ko at ng abogado ko, ang nakalagay sa resibo, payment of lease rentals.” (When I and my lawyer checked, what was stated on the receipt was for payment of lease rentals.)

The receipt is not an original copy but only a photocopy. (READ: Why Guanzon asserts Marcos Jr. committed a ‘crime of moral turpitude’)

While the number “0605” is written on the submitted receipt, it does not mean that this “account symbol” on the receipt is for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) tax payment form. If the receipt is for tax deficiencies, it must be clearly written “tax deficiencies” and not  “lease rental.”

BIR form no. 0605 has its own template form.

Petitioners’ counsel Ted Te secured a certification from the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in December 2021 that they had no record proving that Marcos Jr. had paid his tax deficiencies. – Owenh Toledo/Rappler.com

Owenh Toledo is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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