DoF to set up academy for tax bureaus
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) in a statement on Sunday, July 16, said the University of Makati will house its Philippine Tax Academy — a training institution to boost competence among the tax bureaus — which is expected to be in operation in January next year.
In a statement, the DoF said that they are finalizing the establishment of the academy together with its attached agencies and the Department of Budget and Management.
“We are already in consultation with the University of Makati to locate initially our campus there,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III was quoted in the statement as saying.
The academy aims to provide revenue and customs authorities a learning institution dedicated to their continuous education and training in improving tax-collection competence.
Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran meanwhile said the Bureau of Customs (BoC) has submitted its comments on the draft Implementing Rules and Regulations on the academy.
He also aid the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has expressed its intent to aid in identifying the training programs to be offered at the academy.
The program is expected to cost about P20 million.
“We have a budget of P20 million for the Tax Academy. ( It will start) next year. We are now preparing for it. We’re making a curriculum for each of the training programs that we will launch,” Mr. Beltran had told reporters earlier.
Republic Act 10143, or the Act Establishing a Philippine Tax Academy, aims to “develop capabilities of tax collectors and administrators to help improve their tax collection eff iciency and to become competent and effective public servants for the national interest.”
According to that law, the curriculum should include the “technical aspects of tax collection, administration and compliance, and the career orientation and development for civil servants.”
All officials and personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue ( BIR), the BoC and the Bureau of Local Government Finance ( BLGF) shall be required to undergo training programs by the Philippine Tax Academy before they can be hired whether on a contractual or permanent status.
The law was approved in July 2009 under former president Gloria M. Macapagal-Arroyo, but was not implemented until now.
According to the DoF, the Tax Academy, which will be set up as a corporate body, will also accept for training selected applicants from the private sector.
The Board of Trustees of the Academy includes representatives from the Finance department, its revenue agencies BIR, BoC and BLGF, as well as three representatives from the academe with a least five years of teaching experience in “reputable schools.”