Why not improve tax collection first?

There is now a proposal that instead of imposing additional taxes on the public, the government should impose certain taxes on billionaires.

According to IBON Foundation executive director Sonny Africa, if the government imposes a tax of 1% on those earning ₱1 billion, 2% on those earning ₱2 billion, and 3% on those earning ₱3 billion and over, this could generate ₱470 billion.

This will certainly go a long way to fill government coffers and deal with our ₱12.6 trillion debt.

We are sure that there are those who will cry foul over this proposal, especially those who stand to lose 1% of their ₱1 billion, 2% on their ₱2 billion, and so on. But it is still a sound proposal. Like we said earlier, it’s actually those who can afford to pay taxes many times over who have the most ways of getting out of paying taxes, or escaping the taxman’s notice.

But before embarking on such a drastic measure, perhaps we should just improve tax collection to begin with and see how we can proceed from there.

We are sure there are those who should still be taxed but aren’t, and we don’t even mean the billionaires yet. There are so many professionals and business owners who can get away with paying nothing at all, or very little compared to how much they earn, because they know how to work around the system or know some people who can make the tax collectors look the other way.

The result is that those in the middle class end up with the biggest burden when it comes to taxes, something that really shouldn’t rest solely on their shoulders.

Taxes are what keep a nation running. Paying taxes is the duty of all citizens who earn an income. We are sure those in the middle class and even the lower income brackets won’t mind paying their fair share of taxes --as long as those who earn way more than them also pay their fair share.