PAYING taxes is never fun, especially when the taxpayer is struggling with bills to pay and business or employment is going downhill while prices of basic needs are increasing. One might add a clincher to these woes and concerns, a final disincentive for anyone squeezing in a considerable amount of money into the to-pay list: news and comments from all over social media that government officials are squandering public funds without accountability.
Paying taxes is something citizens of civilized and organized society cannot dodge. Taxes are the lifeblood of all governments because they need money to render service to their constituents. Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s founding fathers, said so in a quote that is as true today as it was in 1787: “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.”
‘We are confident the new law will help the government raise the money needed to fund its P768-trillion national budget this year.’
Offices of local treasurers and branches of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) are making the payment of taxes a little easier for the public. They provide air-conditioned waiting areas, enough teller windows, snacks, TV entertainment, etc. Cities and towns give hefty discounts to landowners paying their real property taxes ahead of the deadline. Business taxes, if sizable, may be paid in installments. They also accept payments online, and for those paying face-to-face, several local government units are opening their offices even on weekends this first month of the year.
Further easing the pain, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law a measure aimed at simplifying the tax filing process for small and medium enterprises and improving revenue collection through digitalization initiatives.
The Presidential Communications Office said the new law, which “introduces administrative tax reforms and amendments to several sections of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, also eyes to update the Philippine taxation system, adopt best practices, and replace antiquated procedures.”
The measure also simplifies procedures by allowing taxpayers to electronically or manually file tax returns with the BIR, any authorized agent bank or authorized tax software provider, PCO said.
As approved, the law will make it easier for medium-size foreign companies to set up shop locally. The measure will provide more equitable and simplified tax compliance requirements, promote taxpayer’s welfare, and guarantee sustained revenue growth. It will also simplify tax filings for micro and small enterprises, allow for the electronic filing of taxes, and accelerate value-added tax (VAT) refunds by shifting to an invoice system.
Some of the salient features of the new law are the classification of taxpayers into micro, small, medium and large, option to pay internal revenue taxes removal to the city or municipal treasurer, and elimination of the distinction between documentation and basis of sales of goods and services.
Registration facilities will also be available to taxpayers not residing in the Philippines, while documentary requirements will be reduced and BIR services digitalized through the development of the Ease of Paying Taxes and Digitalization Roadmap.
RA No. 11976 also establishes a 180-day period for processing “claims for refund of erroneous or illegal tax collection; increases the amount from P100 for the mandatory issuance of receipts for each sale and transfer of goods and services to P500; and reduced the number of income tax return pages from four to two pages.
Adopting an integrated and automated system for facilitating basic tax services, setting up electronic and online systems for data and information exchange between offices and departments, streamlining procedures by adopting automation and digitalization of BIR services, and building up BIR’s technology capabilities are among the list of digitalization initiatives that would be implemented, according to the PCO.
We are confident the new law will help the government raise the money needed to fund its P768-trillion national budget this year.
