BIR 13 eyeing 500 medium taxpayers to hike collection

The Bureau of Internal Revenue 13-Cebu is zooming its focus on top 500 medium taxpayers under its jurisdiction to boost its tax collection.

BIR 13 Regional Director Aynie MandajoyanDizon said the agency is mulling the creation of Medium Taxpayers Division to concentrate on these taxpayers as it seeks to boost its collection efficiency.

Currently, the BIR only has the Large Taxpayers Division (LTD) which collects taxes from the country’s big businesses, something the tax bureau wants to establish for medium taxpayers.

Dizon said the creation of LTD has been effective in raising the agency's collection.

On December 5, BIR 13 will hold a taxpayer segmentation forum at SM City Cebu Trade Hall where top 500 medium taxpayers are expected to attend.

She said the planned segmentation of medium taxpayers is being eyed to help the agency yield more collections.

BIR 13 has already identified at least 500 medium taxpayers — which are mostly engaged in construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail — under the jurisdiction of the revenue region, the official said.

This number will soon increase to 1,500. Dizon characterized medium taxpayers as businesses that have payments totaling more than 30 percent of a revenue region’s annual collection target.

A business is considered a large taxpayer if it is a corporation with an authorized capitalization of at least P300 million; multi-national enterprises with an authorized capitalization or assigned capital of at least P300 million; publicly listed corporation; and universal, commercial or foreign bank.

From January to September this year, BIR 13's collection increased by 13 percent to P20.3 billion from P18 billion collected during the same period in 2016.

The figure was however 6.9 percent or P1.5 billion short of the region’s P21.8-billion target for the period.