French-Filipina model Solenn in trouble

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has warned celebrities to pay their taxes religiously, following tax-evasion charges it filed against the actress-model Solenn Heusaff, who allegedly under-declared her income for 2011. BIR Commissioner Kim Henares told journalists on Friday that it is “easy for us to check” on celebrities because they are in the public eye. “So they should not have the temerity to think that they can escape,” she said. The French-Filipina Heusaff, who is also a VJ, singer, fashion designer and painter, said she was not guilty. “I don’t know what happened … I’m an honest person, as transparent as it gets,” she tweeted on Friday. “Someone made a mistake and I have to fix it.” Her accountant, Teofilo Magno Jr, was included in the suit filed by BIR before the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Friday. Henares told journalists covering the DoJ that Heusaff, a talent of TV network GMA-7, owed government 3.6 million pesos (Dh321,254.13) in taxes, including surcharges and interests. Heusaff, according to BIR records, earned 13.38 million (Dh1.2m) in 2011 but declared a gross income of only 6.73 million pesos (Dh600,566.75) in her 2011 income tax return (ITR). She was specifically charged with wilfully attempting to evade payment of taxes and deliberately failing to supply the agency with correct information on her ITR that resulted to nonpayment of taxes. Henares called on celebrities who have hired accountants to take care of their finances to always issue cheques payable to BIR for their tax payments, as it is difficult to divert these cheques. She also reminded celebrities that being famous also makes the public scrutinise their every move. She said, “You cannot have your cake and eat it too.”