BIR intensifies enforcement activities to boost tax collection

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) aims to increase its collection by 7.23% to PHP2.08-trillion this year by improving tax compliance among all taxpayers, strengthening its budget management system, speeding up its recruitment and promotion of employees, expanding its computerization efforts, and further intensifying its enforcement activities.

In his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay said its enforcement activities include the Oplan Kandado program, Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program, and tax audits, among others.

Dulay said under the Oplan Kandado program, 209 establishments were padlocked for tax law violations, which led to the collection of PHP607.87-million in taxes in 2020.

Its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program led to the filing of 157 cases before the Department of Justice (DOJ) with aggregate tax liabilities of PHP7.45-billion, and another 24 cases filed with the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) with total estimated liabilities of PHP753.75-million, he said.

Dulay said the BIR also plans to roll out its Enhanced Internal Revenue Stamp Integrated System (IRSIS) in the first quarter of this year to further step up its campaign against cigarette smuggling.

The nationwide rollout of the Internal Revenue Integrated System (IRIS), which will serve as the BIR’s central tool and repository to process taxpayers’ information, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, along with the pilot implementation of its Electronic Invoicing System, he said.

The Online Registration & Update System (ORUS), which is a web-based system that will provide an end-to-end process for registration and updating of taxpayer registration information, is due for implementation in the fourth quarter, he added.

By the first quarter of this year, Dulay said the BIR expects its collection performance dashboard to be up and running.

This will enable the central office to check the collection performance of each collecting office/Revenue Region of the BIR against the assigned goal, compare it with the previous year and classify it by type of collection, he said.

Dulay said the BIR will also allow taxpayers to book online appointments with revenue officers regarding tax-related concerns starting this year.

He said the bureau is targeting to complete its in-house developed One-Time Transaction (ONETT) tracking system this year to allow it to monitor the ONETT transactions from the date the taxpayer secured the services of the revenue officers for the computation of the tax due up to the time of securing the Electronic Certificates Authorizing Registration (eCARs).

In his accomplishment report, Dulay reported the BIR surpassed its collection goal in 2020 through the strict monitoring of tax compliance, topped by making good use of the bureau’s Taxpayer Account Management Program.

The BIR’s strict monitoring of tax compliance also included withholding the remittances of national government agencies, local government units, top withholding taxpayers, and other private withholding agents, and employing online facilities.

Citing BIR preliminary data, Dulay said the bureau collected a total of PHP1.94-trillion in 2020, or 15.14% over the revised goal of PHP1.68-trillion set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee for last year.