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THE
purely state business of tax collection has turned into
a family affair of sorts at the Department of Finance,
as a member of Congress whose son works as chief public
finance architect urged the latter to look into the tax
payments of some of the country’s largest
corporations.
Representative Herminio G. Teves, committee chairman on
ways and means and father to Margarito Teves, the
Secretary of Finance, wrote his son a letter before
Christmas urging that he look closely into the big
firms’ books of accounts.
The
elder Teves has information that several of the
so-called large taxpayers paid increasingly diminishing
value-added and income taxes to the government, even as
they continue to post hefty increases in sales and
income.
“It is
imperative that the DOF and the Bureau of Internal
Revenue look into the reason behind, especially on the
behavior of industry players who post increasing gross
sales and net income but show decreasing tax payments,”
he said in a letter to his son, a copy of which was
obtained by the BusinessMirror.
The
elder Teves, along with the committee members, were
intrigued by the turn of events and wondered aloud if
the companies involved enjoyed certain fiscal incentives
that other less-unfortunate taxpayers do not
have.
But
whether or not the lucky few have one or several fiscal
incentives with them, it was clear to the legislator the
full tax potential had not been tapped.
“It can
also be inferred the BIR was not able to capture the
potential tax due from the sample players since the
actual collection was way below the potential,” the
elder Teves said.
He added
that the DOF “has not institutionalized its audit
system” and that the lack of a tax audit team from the
DOF “may hamper the realization of collecting the
potential revenue due the government.”
Earlier,
the joint congressional committee on the Comprehensive
Tax Reform Program was told that some of the largest and
most profitable businesses in the country paid
government VAT and income taxes that diminished over a
three-year period even as their gross sales increased
all the time.
The
report has scandalized both the Senate and the House of
Representatives and generated apprehension over the
likely outcome of the revenue program over the medium
term.
Finance
chief Teves said earlier this year’s fiscal numbers have
thus outperformed expectations, as the budget deficit in
the first 11 months, for instance, was just 47 percent
of the full-year target of P125 billion.
The
January-to-November deficit was only P58.3 billion and
compares very favorably against year-ago deficit of
P122.8 billion.
The
younger Teves also said revenues were basically on
track, totaling P882.4 billion and well within striking
distance from the full-year goal of P974.1 billion. |
