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THE
Bureau of Internal Revenue said it had exceeded its
target collection for April mostly due to administrative
measures, such as the continuing drive against
discrepancies in the various filings of companies.
BIR
Commissioner Lilian B. Hefti told reporters on Tuesday
that the agency’s collection for the period already
reached more than P91 billion as of Monday, or 7 percent
higher than its P85-billion target for the period.
“I’m not
closing the books as of yesterday [Monday] but it’s
[April collection] already at P91 [billion] plus,” Hefti
said at the sidelines of the seminar for auditors
organized by SGV and Co.
“We
increased our audits, collection of accounts and
receivables… continuously trying to discover discrepancy
through the third-party information program. We are
reaping [the] fruits of our administration measures.”
She said
the figure is already more than 20 percent higher than
the agency’s P75-billion collection during the same time
last year.
With the
higher collection for the period, Hefti is adjusting the
agency’s collection target.
“I will
announce it later during RCC [Revenue Command
Conference],” she said, when asked what will be the
agency’s new targets.
The
national government is targeting a collection of P1.236
trillion for the year. Of this, the BIR accounts for 76
percent with a target of P844.95 billion. The rest of
the collection will come from the Bureau of Customs,
with P254 billion; Bureau of Treasury, with P57 billion;
and other offices, with P80 billion—of which P30 billion
will come from privatization proceeds.
In the
first three months of the year, BIR’s collection reached
P163 billion, slightly higher than its P160-billion
target set by the interagency Development Budget
Coordination Committee.
For the
second quarter, BIR is supposed to collect P219 billion.
BIR said
it will continue to adopt measures to collect more, such
as automation procedures and information-sharing efforts
with other government agencies, particularly with local
governments.
The
agency is set to implement a recent department order
mandating it to provide LGUs copies of updated master
lists of taxpayers classified by industry, and of those
firms whose business permits were renewed for the
current year.
BIR said
it would also provide the lists of retired businesses
and of those taxpayers with discrepancies on gross sales
or receipts.
The
agency, through its revenue district officer, will also
allow LGUs to access important documents, such as a
company’s income-tax returns, value-added tax returns
and percentage tax returns pertaining to any person,
partnership, corporation, or association that are
subject to local taxes, fees and charges.
“These
information will be used exclusively to ascertain,
assess and collect the correct amount of
internal-revenue taxes, and it shall not be disclosed to
any unauthorized person with due regard to the security
of the taxpayer’s information,” the BIR said in an
earlier statement. |
