Philippine Medical Association president Dr. Leo Olarte tells BIR chief Kim Henares (inset) to clean up their ranks first.
MANILA, Philippines—Clean up your ranks first.
This was the challenge of Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Dr. Leo Olarte to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), after the agency published a new print ad repeating the previous message that doctors are tax cheats.
“[The BIR] should look at its own backyard first. It must ensure that the taxes we pay do not go to the pockets of corrupt people in the bureau. BIR has many corrupt people,” Olarte said in a phone interview.
“Bato-bato sa langit ang tamaan huwag magalit,” Olarte said. It is a Filipino saying that roughly translates: People hit by stones falling from the sky must not get angry. Meaning, when a person gives criticism, those referred to must not get angry.
“They’ve been saying the same thing to us,” Olarte said, referring to Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares’ statements defending the controversial ad that says: “If you’re paying the right taxes, it’s not alluding to you. If you’re not paying the right taxes, then it’s talking to you.”
Estela Sales, BIR deputy commissioner, said the agency had never wavered in its commitment to police its own ranks.
“We have an active integrity management program,” she said. “If there are formal complaints, we will take action. We urge people to come forward and help us in our efforts to get rid of corruption.”
Henares said she expected to find out the results of the ad campaign after April 15, the deadline for the filing of income tax returns. She expressed satisfaction the ad campaign worked. “I believe it made people aware,” she said.
Olarte urged the BIR to file charges against doctors who did not pay their taxes instead of subjecting them to a shame campaign.
“There should be due process. Why not charge these doctors in court if they are indeed tax cheats or tax evaders? Do not generalize because not all doctors are not paying the correct taxes,” he said.
Abuse of human rights
“These are mere allegations and they are not the gospel truth. The BIR’s shame campaign is indeed a gross violation of the doctors’ human rights,” Olarte said.
He said the latest BIR advertisement, which presented statistics showing anemic tax payments by doctors in Cebu and Davao provinces, could possibly be true but not because medical practitioners in the two provinces were tax cheats.
“Probably some of these doctors are no longer practicing their profession. Some of them may be disabled, sick or have shifted to another profession. Perhaps they just filed their income tax for compliance,” Olarte explained.
The ad showed that out of the 2,825 registered doctors in Cebu, more than half—or 1,467—declared in 2012 income tax dues that were less than the tax liability of an average public school teacher.
According to the BIR, an average public school teacher has an annual income tax liability of P27,360 based on the average yearly income of P222,552.
The ad also showed that another 1,150 doctors in Cebu did not declare any income tax due for the same year.
This means that in Cebu, over 90 percent of the registered doctors either did not pay income tax or paid income tax in amounts smaller than what a public school teacher should have remitted.
In Davao, the ad further showed, more than half—or 1,307—of the 2,406 registered doctors in the province did not declare any income tax due.
Another 464 paid income tax, but the amounts of tax paid were also less than the tax liability of an average public school teacher.
“When you don’t pay your taxes, you’re a burden to those who do,” the BIR again said in the latest print ad.
Against tax evasion
The same line was printed in a previous newspaper advertisement, which showed a doctor riding piggyback on a teacher.
The print advertisements are part of the BIR’s campaign against tax evasion.
“Right now there is an ongoing negotiation between the BIR and PMA to change the ads into a positive appeal to taxpayers,” Olarte said.
He stressed that the medical sector supported the BIR’s mandate to collect the right taxes.—With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and Michelle V. Remo
Originally posted at 9:44 pm | Thursday, March 13, 2014
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