Thumbed tax

A WHOPPING P21 billion. That is the target collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue from Central Luzon this year.

Easy as easy can be. What with almost half the target – P10 billion – eyed from Pampanga alone!

A solid testimony there to the economic pre-eminence of Pampanga in the region, a resounding affirmation of its permanent niche among the top provinces of the Philippines. No less than the National Statistical Coordination Board has declared  Pampanga as among the 10 most developed provinces in the country, with total investments pegged at P95 billion in 2012, some 76 percent of the investments in Central Luzon.

It comes all-too-naturally consequential then for the BIR to ask Gov. Lilia G. Pineda to be poster baby to its tax collection campaign dubbed “I Love the Philippines, I Pay My Taxes Right, It’s As Easy as RFP.” The acronym meaning Register, File and Pay.

That role taken to the hilt by the governor at the campaign launch in SM City Pampanga last week.

“Pampanga is continuously growing in business and other areas crucial to nation-building,” Pineda said, as she underscored the concomitant responsibility of the citizenry to this growth through the on-time payment of the right taxes.

And thereby appealed to one and all to support the BIR to achieve – mayhaps, even surpass – its P10-billion collection target for Pampanga.

Along that direction, the governor first directed local government officials in the entire province to join hands with the BIR in convincing businesses to update their tax accounts. 
Second, Pineda directly called on the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PamCham), prominently represented in the event by its president, Jim Jimenez, to serve as the template to all business groups in paying their taxes correctly and on time. 

Aye, the governor hit the bull’s eye there: PamCham boasting of 498 business establishments running the gamut of industry, commerce, finance, trade and services. PamCham veritably a social registry of Pampanga’s Who’s Who.

Why, if the premium placed by PamCham’s most prominent members on their corporate and individual images – read: swanky offices, swankier cars – Benzes and BMWs, Audis and Range Rovers – were just at par with the fulfilment of their tax obligations, easily three quarters of the P10 billion collection target would be most satisfactorily met.

At the launch of the BIR Revenue Region 4’s 2014 tax campaign and information drive last February, Regional Director Araceli L. Francisco bamboozled the media with various ways, means and mechanisms singularly targeting the goal of P21-billion tax collection for the region.

There were – hold your breath now – the Online System for Transfer Tax Transactions (OST3); eCAR or Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration; eTIS or Electronic Tax Information Systems; IRSIS or Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System; RATE for the invigorated Run After Tax Evaders program;  Oplan Kandado; the Integrity Management Program (IMP);  the Re-engineering of other Business Processes; eORB for Electronic Official Registry Book; e-Linkage with the Bureau of Treasury; the Automated Revenue Allotment Computation; the Forfeited Asset Management System; the Automated Issuance of Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes; Online Accreditation of Importers and Brokers; the Online System for Accreditation of Printers which is part of the Taxpayer Registration Information Update; the Electronic BIR Forms (eBIR Forms); the Strategic Performance Management System; the Workflow Management System, the Exchange of Information Program; the Procurement, Payment, Inventory and Distribution Monitoring System; and the Career Pathing.
Gasp, gasp, gasp. Still, all bases not only covered but loaded there, and the BIR poised to hit a home run.

So no need for the campaign of shame on tax evaders here in Pampanga then.

How about a hall of fame instead – the top 20 taxpayers in the categories of business and individuals in Pampanga – published in all local papers and broadcast in all radio and television stations in the province.

The business category may even be segmented further to realtors, hotels and motels, manufacturers, restaurants, car dealers, hardware and lumber, etcetera.

The individual category to lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, teachers, etcetera.

The BIR may even find treasures to dig here. For by the amount they pay in taxes, Pampanga’s elite will be made to justify the all-too ostentatious display of their wealth.

Only P10 billion target tax collection for Pampanga? No sweat.