Suarez urges full implementation of attrition law at BIR, BoC

HOUSE Minority Leader Danilo E. Suarez of the 3rd district of Quezon has asked the Department of Finance (DoF) to revisit a law providing for attrition in the revenue-collecting agencies for workers who fail to meet targets.

“This is a good opportunity for the Finance Department to fully implement the Lateral Attrition Law,” Mr. Suarez said in a briefing, Wednesday.

Mr. Suarez made the remarks following a DoF report that it reached 94.7% of its target in the revenue collection under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law from Jan. to September 2018.

Republic Act No. 9335, or the Lateral Attrition Act of 2005, provides a rewards-and-sanction system in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to encourage its officials and employees to exceed revenue targets.

The law provides that collectors that miss their target by 7.5% will be removed from service.

He noted the effective implementation of the law is vital for tax measures, like the TRAIN Law.

“Any tax reform sans proper implementation of the Lateral Attrition Act will not be able to achieve its full potential,” he said.

“While the argument can be made that collectors here are doing jobs they are paid to do, in reality, the temptation to succumb to corruption can be hard to resist,” he said. —