BIR won’t spare anyone in drive vs tax evasion

The Bureau of Internal Revenue is not sparing anyone in its battle against tax evasion as it is also hunting down politicians and extremely wealthy individuals who fail to pay their fair share of taxes, according to the agency’s head.

BIR commissioner Kim Henares said “no one is spared” in so far as the agency’s audits are concerned.

“Rest assured we will do what needs to be done,” Henares pointed out amid criticism that the BIR is only going after small-time tax cheats and letting the super rich and corrupt politicians get away with their tax obligations.

Last March, the Department of Finance, which oversees the BIR, declared war

against professionals and the self- employed who have been underreporting their income intentionally to avoid taxes.

According to the government, the incidence of tax evasion among professionals remained high.

While tax payments from self- employed and professionals increased to P1 billion in 2010 t 2012, the sector comprises only 6.8 percent of total individual income taxes, which is way below the 81.5- percent share of those whose taxes are automatically deducted from their salaries.

Data from the Professional Regulation Commission show that there were some three million registered professionals in the country—190,000 are doctors and lawyers who earn more than salaried workers.

Henares said the BIR continues to intensify its tax campaign to plug the revenue leakages that occur as some taxpayers do not comply with the law and circumvent it to avoid government taxes.

She said investigations done by by the BIR are confidential until cases are filed with the Department of Justice.

The government intends to shore up collections from the country’s over 2,000 large taxpayers through the adoption of technology and information- based solutions.

It plans to enhance the audit process through statistical analysis using industry and economic benchmarks to identify taxpayers at high risk of noncompliance.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima earlier said the top taxpayers’ lists are valuable tools in the BIR’s drive to expand income tax net across the country and compel wealthy tax evaders to come to terms to boost revenue collection.

The BIR also intends to improve information linkages with other government agencies to enhance collection payments and self-reported income tax filings.

The Large Taxpayers Service accounts for the biggest share in BIR’s total revenues. Collections from the LTS amounted to P649.95 billion last year or 64 percent of the agency’s total collections from operations of P1.015 trillion.

For this year, the BIR expects LTS collections to reach P768.3 billion or 62.7percent of the BIR’s total collection goal of P1.225 trillion for 2013.