Now, BIR discovers some accountants don’t pay taxes

While many taxpayers in Metro Manila hire accountants to pay their income tax correctly, not all accountants in the metropolis correctly pay theirs, according to the latest Tax Watch advertisement of the Department Finance (DOF).

In the ad published Wednesday, the DOF said one in every 10 accountants in the National Capital Region declared zero income tax for 2014.

Citing data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the DOF said 214, or 11 percent, of 1,944 accountants, auditors and bookkeepers who filed returns last year had zero tax due.

Of the filers, 338, or 17 percent, declared a monthly gross income less than P13,890, the entry-level pay for an administrative assistant 1 in some government offices.

The DOF pointed to an accountant in Quezon City who had earnings of P1 million, but paid only P25 in income tax.

Another Quezon City accountant paid just P198, it said. An accountant in Pasay City paid only P336 and one in Manila paid just P989.

Four other accountants—from Caloocan, Las Piñas, Mandaluyong and Manila—paid taxes less than P3,000, the DOF said.

“When you don’t pay your taxes, you’re a burden to those who do,” the DOF said, trying to shame deadbeats in the professions.

In its Tax Watch ad published last week, the DOF claimed almost one in every 10 lawyers in Cebu, Davao, Makati and Quezon City paid zero tax last year, while 194, or 12 percent of the 1,522 lawyers in the four cities who filed returns declared a monthly gross income less than P13,492, similar to the monthly income of a police officer 1.