Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Francis “Chiz” Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — Instead of getting emotional, the government and the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) should work together to make the tax collection more simple and encourage “voluntary” compliance among professionals,” Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said on Tuesday.
“Let’s not be emotional about it. Let’s look at the figures,” said Angara, chairman of the committee on ways and means, when sought to react to the controversial tax campaign advertisement of the Bureau of Internal Revenue allegedly portraying a medical doctor as a tax cheat.
At present, he said, the system of tax collection for professionals is a “self-assessment system.”
“It relies on the honesty of the individuals. Maybe we should look at how effective the system is. We should look how to make it simpler to encourage voluntary compliance,” Angara said.
Asked if the tax assessment on professionals should be less discretionary, the senator said: “It’s a tax administration issue. How do you make it simpler? How do you encourage compliance?”
“There are some suggestions made already to allow professionals to deduct the expenses for employees, things like that. We’re looking into that,” he said.
Angara said there was a suggestion, for instance, to change the basis of taxable income for professionals.
Despite the protest raised by the PMA against the ad, Angara and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero saw no need for BIR Commissioner Kim Henares to apologize for it.
“No need to apologize but I think the BIR should go out of its way to explain their ads to sectors, who may be a bit sensitive and revisit such ads in order to improve on it, avoid stereotyping and to make it less offensive,” Escudero said in a text message.
But the ads did not sit well not only to the PMA but also to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who criticized Henares for allegedly resorting to “publicity gimmicks.”
“Commissioner Henares is resorting to publicity gimmicks because she is running out of most effective ideas to improve tax collection,” Trillanes said in a separate text message.
“Records will show that since she was appointed as head of BIR, despite all the undeserved praises coming her way, she has yet to reach her annual tax collection targets,” the senator added.
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