THE government will not rely on the imposition of new taxes to meet its revenue target for this year and will instead focus on improving the collection efficiency of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto said.
In a briefing at the BOC office in Manila on Wednesday, Jan. 24, Recto acknowledged that generating the P4.3 trillion revenue target for this year “is not a walk in the park.”
The bulk of the tax revenues amounting to P3.05 trillion will be generated by the BIR, while the BOC is expected to collect close to P1 trillion.
Almost P300 billion, meanwhile, will come from the Bureau of the Treasury, Recto said.
“Recognizing the current economic challenges, we must not rely solely on imposing new or additional taxes,” he said.
He added: “As to imposing new taxes, frankly speaking, there are no plans of imposing additional new taxes. I think our first job is to collect what is on the table and that’s why we are planning with the BIR and the Customs Commissioner to improve its efficiency. How do we collect more from the current taxes imposed in the tax code.”
Recto said that while he supports some of the tax reforms earlier proposed by former Finance secretary Benjamin Diokno, the DOF is currently “refining” some of these proposals.
He said some of these need to be tweaked as the inflationary environment remains a bit high and imposing additional taxes will be inflationary.
Recto said one of these is the road users tax bill which seeks to provide adequate funding for the maintenance of national and provincial roads, as well as address air pollution from motor vehicles.
Improving tax collection
To attain the revenue target, Recto ordered the BIR and the BOC to collaborate closely in ensuring the ease of paying taxes and eliminating trade barriers that severely impact the country’s supply chains.
In particular, Recto directed the BIR to swiftly implement the Ease of Paying Taxes Act to deliver on its promise of prompt, efficient and excellent taxpayer service, ensuring that taxpayers receive value for their contributions.
He also instructed the bureau to run after tax cheats and intensify its campaign for tax compliance in a fair manner that favors no one.
Recto directed the BOC to channel all efforts towards significantly enhancing trade facilitation and strengthening border control to curb smuggling. (PNA)/PN
