Noy urges Tsinoys anew: Pay correct taxes on time
President Aquino renewed his call yesterday for Filipino-Chinese businessmen to pay the right taxes – and to do it on time – as the government tries to level the playing field and make the country more conducive for business.
“As you continue to reap benefits from our economic revival, I hope that you will also be more willing to share the fruits of your hard work Ð not only through your philanthropic activities, but also by setting the good example as citizens who fulfill their obligations on time and by the book,” Aquino said as he administered the oath to newly elected officers of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., whose members include the richest men in the country.
“It is my hope that as you continue to give generously, you also take to heart the civic duties and responsibilities of every Filipino. This is what will allow our already strong partnership to ßourish in the years to come,” Aquino said.
Aquino also witnessed yesterday at Malacañang the ceremonial turnover of two school buildings.
He received approximately P80 million in pledges for the construction of 400 classrooms, or 200 school units.
He thanked the FFCCCII for helping build 9,000 classrooms since 1961, as well as for its plan to grant four-year scholarships to 60 high school graduates pursuing a degree in education when the federation celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2014.
“It is my deepest hope that we can continue working together and building on each other’s achievements in order to foster a culture of shared prosperity and empowerment in the Philippines as true partners do,” Aquino told the businessmen.
The federation also supports volunteer fire brigades and donates to disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts.
“It is always encouraging for those of us in government to see businessmen going above and beyond what you would expect from an ordinary citizen. For our part, we are doing our level best to forge an environment that is even more conducive to business,” he said.
Last March, Aquino said he found it “unnerving” that a good number of FilipinoChinese businessmen were not paying correct taxes, based on information provided by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
In his speech during FFCCCI’s biennial convention at the Mall of Asia, Aquino said only 105 of the 207 firms and organizations belonging to the federation had a tax identification number.
“Of these 105 firms, only 54 filed tax returns. To make matters worse, 38 firms and organizations actually filed returns with zero tax due. This means that only 16 out of the 207 – or only around eight percent – of your member-organizations paid taxes,” Aquino said.
The President added that of 552 FFCCCI individual members, only 424 have tax identification numbers and that only 185 of them or almost 44 percent filed income tax returns.
“Of those that fi led tax returns, 14 fi led returns with zero tax due. What this means is 354 out of 552 members – or 64 percent of you – did not pay taxes for the same reasons: no TIN, no tax due, or nothing filed at all,” he said.
Aquino added that among those who filed and paid income taxes, many “paid less than P100,000” while there were some who paid less than P1,000 in taxes.