MANILA, Philippines — Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has praised the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for its ongoing digital transformation efforts which improved services to taxpayers and boosted collection performance ahead of the coronavirus crisis.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dominguez said the digitally enhanced administrative reforms being undertaken by the BIR are now beginning to pay off as shown in the improvement of the country’s tax effort from 13 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015 to 14.5 percent of GDP in 2019.
This, he said, encourages the more convenient and efficient electronic filing of tax payments.
The Finance chief said the country can count on its “strong macroeconomic fundamentals” and “increased use of digital technologies” to quickly recover from the effects of the pandemic.
The BIR is well prepared for the onset of the “new normal” way of contactless transactions, Dominguez said, with the digital transformation process it has set into motion.
“The BIR has improved internal processes, raised efficiency levels, and delivered many conveniences to our clients—the taxpayers. I am confident that more improvements are in store because the Bureau has also demonstrated the ambition and commitment that are key to any successful digitalization reform,” he said.