Preamble
WHEREAS, one of the objectives of the proclamation of martial law is for the Government to institute much needed reforms in the existing tax structure in order to promote the social and economic well-being of our people; WHEREAS, in order to insure the success of said reforms it is imperative that our taxpayers be imbued with a profound sense of discipline and awareness of the penal consequences of any infraction committed by them against our internal Revenue laws, particularly acts of tax evasion which undermine the economic stability of the nation; WHEREAS, it has been found that the penalty prescribed under existing laws for tax evasion, specifically that embodied in the second paragraph of Section 73 of the National Internal Revenue Code which penalizes the filing of false and fraudulent returns with intent to evade payment of the correct income tax, is disproportionate to the gravity of the offense, such that its efficacy as a penal sanction has now become practically nil. NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution do hereby decree and order the amendment of the National Internal Revenue Code as follows: