Sultry singer and one of the '70s jukebox queen Claire Dela Fuente (Clarita de Guzman in real life) faces possible arrest after the Court of Tax Appeal (CTA) issued a warrant of arrest against her for failing to pay the correct taxes owed by her bus company Philippine Corinthian Liner Corporation (PCLC).

PCLC runs The King of Kings Transport which operates some 237 buses in Metro Manila, Alabang-Baclaran-Monumento route.

In a one-page resolution dated March 10, CTA Associate Justices Juanito C. Castaneda Jr., Caesar A. Casanova and Cielito N. Mindaro-Grulla ordered the immediate arrest of Dela Fuente for allegedly failing to pay deficiency taxes from 1997 to 2004 amounting to P417,786,376.21, inclusive of penalties.

The case against Dela Fuente was filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) under its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) Program.

In a statement sent to the Manila Bulletin, BIR Deputy Commissioner for Legal and Enforcement and RATE head Atty. Gregorio V. Cabantac said the case is part of the intensified campaign against tax evaders in line with the Enhanced RATE Program thrust of Internal Revenue Commissioner Joel Tan Torres to rev up the bureau’s 2010 collection target of P830 billion.

“The BIR investigation revealed that Dela Fuente failed to file income and percentage taxes, declare its actual income and pay the corresponding taxes, and register her business with the BIR from 1997 to 2004,” Cabantac said.

“Further investigation revealed that the company failed to pay the proper taxes from 2002 to 2004 based on the company’s statements of income as submitted to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB),” he said.