Adding T.A.P to T.R.A.I.N

The TRAIN left the station December 2017 but the tax engineers apparently forgot to put a TAP on the TRAIN. Based on Google info on TRAIN or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, it is the first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) envisioned by President Duterte’s administration, which seeks to correct a number of deficiencies in the tax system to make it simpler, fairer, and more efficient.

If the recently approved TRAIN is the first package for the CTRP I am assuming there will be more and hopefully it will include putting in a TAP or a comprehensive Tax Amnesty Program. For starters, the premise of TRAIN is that the previous tax system was defective, complicated, unfair and inefficient! In fact it was because of all those imperfections that caused many Filipinos to lie, steal and cheat as far as their tax liabilities were concerned. Excessive taxation ultimately became the motivation to evade tax payments or under declare tax liabilities. The problem with TRAIN is – it is not all-inclusive because it has no provision for past sinners or tax evaders.

As the government corrects a defective tax system, it only follows that the government must now provide or create an avenue for tax evaders to confess, repent and pay their liabilities in a manner that is simpler, fairer, and more efficient and, I might add, “affordable.”

The government’s sales pitch for TRAIN was that it will result in lower taxes and proof of which is how the estate tax was reduced drastically. That’s a real blessing from the Department of Finance, but what about the many families who up to now have not and cannot declare tax liabilities of their family estate because of the horrendous tax rates and even worse the almost criminal penalties slapped on failure to comply. I once suggested that the BIR or DOF should find a way for people or families to be able to make installment payments or to assist families to jointly sell properties so the BIR and the families can get their respective shares. Unfortunately, the sitting BIR Commissioner back then simply shrugged and said it was not their job to come up with such solutions. If the DOF recognizes the curse of an imperfect Tax system before TRAIN, then it must give the remedy for the very victims of an unjust or defective tax system. Otherwise maybe Congress should come up with a bill to push for it.

TAP or a Tax Amnesty Program would cover unpaid or undeclared Family Estates as well try to collect on other areas or items that have not been tax paid such as cars and the likes. It may interest Secretary Dominguez to know that so many people really want to come clean and pay up but everyone is still waiting for a Tax Amnesty. There are also many gun owners who are also waiting for an amnesty program to be able to register their guns. Why not start 2018 right with government giving those people a chance to reform and clear their liabilities? Towards the end of 2017, the MMDA announced that it would issue guidelines for the use and installation of tinted films on vehicles. In response I wrote a short piece making suggestions regarding the matter. But right after doing that, it occurred to me that the MMDA may have exceeded its imagined authority because the matter of regulating what goes on in a vehicle is strictly the domain of the DOTr, particularly the LTO. In fact when I inquired from my contacts, I was told that officials of the DOTr had already been meeting on the matter of tinted vehicles and were surprised that the MMDA made such a pre-emptive announcement. Perhaps it would be a good idea for the officers of the MMDA to consult the PROPER authorities before making public pronouncements that could end up being a usurpation of authority. Instead of complicating their lives with the Tinted vehicle guidelines, the MMDA would get more pogi points and public admiration if they clamped down on buses and bus drivers who leave the Yellow lane area and invade the lane of private vehicles just to overtake other bus drivers. Private motorists are obeying the law but if the MMDA law enforcers won’t punish bus drivers who break the law, maybe we can all call on the LTO to do what the MMDA can’t or won’t do! Officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are clearly getting their knickers in a twist after “headless” or “faceless” newly printed bills started popping up on Facebook posts. The boys at the BSP were clearly embarrassed and harassed to the point that they started issuing warnings on the matter. It wasn’t quite a veiled threat but it would be on the level of “If Looks Could Kill.” Sorry but I have no sympathy for the boys at BSP because some of their ideas often back fire on the public.

Imagine issuing a check payment for something urgent that could affect certain services you seriously need and then finding out that a Mega bank declined to accept payment and returned the check to the payee because the check was filled up using a “BLUE” ball pen. So now people have to buy a different set of colored pens just to fill up checks! Imagine being in a hospital or the likes and being told your check was rejected!

The boys at the BSP don’t think much of it but they caused so much expense on thousands of companies, churches and the likes all of whom had to reformat or order longer envelopes for people to place their checks in, just to avoid being folded. Now they have the gall to be stern with people posting their headless bills that only amateurs could produce! Sometimes it rains to remind you to do your job well! E-mail: utalk2ctalk@gmail.com