DOJ files tax evasion raps vs Sarah Discaya

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February 7, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed four tax evasion cases against private contractor Sarah Discaya over her alleged failure to declare and pay the right amount of income tax for 2020 and 2021.

At a press briefing yesterday, DOJ spokesman Raphael Niccolo Martinez said the cases were filed before the Court of Tax Appeals on Feb. 3.

Martinez said the filed cases involve two counts of violation of Section 254 of the National Internal Revenue Code over Discaya’s alleged “willful attempt to evade or defeat” her income tax liabilities for 2020 and 2021 and another two counts of violation of Section 255 of the NIRC for her supposed failure to supply the correct and accurate information in her income tax returns also for years 2020 and 2021.

Meanwhile, Martinez said the filing of cases against Discaya’s husband, Curlee, was deferred as he filed a motion for reconsideration.

“And so, because of this filing, the BIR, as a matter of procedure, was asked to comment,” Martinez said.

The DOJ had earlier announced that its prosecution panel has found “prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction” to indict the Discaya spouses of violations of Sections 254 and 255 of the NIRC for their income tax liabilities for 2020 and 2021 as proprietors of St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corp. and Fine Things Fashion Wear House.

The DOJ, however, dismissed the complaint of non-payment of excise tax against the Discaya spouses under Section 263 of the NIRC, in connection with their imported vehicles.

“Under the NIRC, liability for excise taxes rests with the importer, not the end consumer,” the Office of the Prosecutor General said in a press statement last Feb. 4. — Bella Cariaso, EJ Macababbad