BIR Manila reminds public: Pay your taxes

The Bureau of Internal Revenue's (BIR) Manila regional office on Wednesday warned taxpayers to declare and pay the correct taxes as it vowed to intensify efforts to run after tax evaders this year.

In an interview, BIR Revenue Region No. 6 director Marina de Guzman said that the office is striving to achieve its P58.912-billion target tax collection for 2019 by conducting daily tax compliance verification, among others.

‘’Nagpupunta kami sa mga door to door para makita namin ano ba 'yung economic activity ng isang taxpayer, at kinukumpara namin itong economic activity nila dun sa kanilang mga income tax returns, value added tax returns percentage tax returns na finafile nila at doon malalaman natin kung nagbabayad ba sila ng tama o hindi,’’ de Guzman said.

She said they can also do a minimum of 10 days' surveillance on individuals believed to be evading taxes.

‘’Pag nakita namin ang isang taxpayer ay hindi nagfa-file ng VAT return, hindi nagbabayad ng tamang VAT or hindi nagfa-file ng income tax return, inuuna po namin ito i-surveillance para makita namin how much do they earn,’’ she said.

The BIR in Manila collected P44.203 billion in taxes  last year—P8 billion short of its P52.209 billion target, which De Guzman said was partly because of lower personal income tax collection due to the enactment of the TRAIN law.

De Guzman lamented that even some big businesses do not pay correct taxes and do not issue receipts unless a customer asks for it.

She stressed that no business is exempt from issuing receipts—not even tiangge vendors in Divisoria and Quiapo.

‘’Kung sakaling may mahuli kami at sila ang may kliyente dun, isasalang namin sila sa pagfile ng Run After Tax Evaders cases po ang mga accredited tax agents para magkaroon ng leksyon na we really mean business here,’’ she said.

‘’Bayaran na po natin yung tamang buwis. Kung magkano yung tamang buwis diyan ibayad natin para po makatulong tayo sa programa ng Pangulo, sa Build Build Build projects niya. Hindi yan tatakbo nang walang buwis,’’ added De Guzman. — BM, GMA News