Angara bats for body to protect taxpayers’ rights

Senator Sonny Angara. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Taxpayers must not only be enjoined to pay their correct taxes but also informed of their rights as far as tax matters are concerned, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said Sunday.

Angara, who chairs the Senate ways and means committee, is specifically pushing for Senate Bill (SB) No. 308, which will create an Office of the National Taxpayer Advocate that will safeguard taxpayers’ rights.

The National Taxpayer Advocate would be an independent body tasked to promote as well as protect the rights of the Filipino taxpayers, Angara said in a statement.

For Angara, a “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights” is needed especially as the Duterte administration plans to embark on a comprehensive tax reform aimed at making the country’s tax system simpler, fairer and more efficient.

“Duties must come with rights. There must be corresponding rights to the duty to pay taxes. Those who pay must be protected,” Angara said.

With the possibility of new consumption taxes to be imposed to compensate for the planned lower income tax rates, Angara is pushing to pass into law taxpayers’ rights protection.

“Taxpayers are not ‘ATMs’—automatic taxpaying members of society—who are not entitled to information nor to redress of grievances, and whose only duty is to pay without question,” Angara pointed out.

In SB 308, Angara said a taxpayer has three rights: basic rights, rights in civil cases, as well as rights in criminal cases.

SB 308 stated that the basic rights include the right “to available information and prompt and accurate responses to questions and requests for tax assistance.”

Under SB 308, “a taxpayer must also have the right to be informed of any pending assessment or investigation and obtain clear statements and non-technical explanations,” Angara said.

“Other rights include ‘the speedy and impartial disposition of the case’ wherever it may be filed and in a manner ‘devoid of any publicity’ while the ‘proceeding is pending,’” he added.

The bill provides that “the taxpayer’s tax information must be kept confidential unless otherwise specified by law.”

Angara also pushed for “the right to fair and consistent application of the tax laws, the right to have assistance of counsel, the right to expeditious tax audits, and the right to request for installment payment of liabilities under any compromise settlement.”

SB 308 “also confers upon the taxpayer the right to be refunded for excess payments or have penalties cancelled when there are errors in assessment,” Angara said, citing that “in civil cases, among the rights of the taxpayer is the opportunity to have the case amicably settled if warranted.”

Also, Angara wanted taxpayers informed of “impending collection actions which require sale or seizure of property or freezing of assets, except jeopardy assessments.”

“The right to seek review, through formal or informal proceedings, of any adverse decisions relating to determinations in the audit or collection processes and the right to seek a reasonable administrative stay enforcement action,” SB 308 stated.

Other rights during civil cases pushed by SB 308 include the right to request cancellation, release, or modification of liens erroneously filed by the bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and of Customs (BOC), as well as the right to waiver of interest arising from an error or delay caused by a revenue employee.

According to Angara, the bill also “devotes one section enumerating the taxpayers’ rights in criminal tax cases, which begins with the right to be knowledgeably, intelligently and timely informed of the charges.”

As such, Angara wanted taxpayers to have the right to seek the assistance of competent and willing counsels.

“Such right extends ‘to be represented or advised by counsel or other qualified representatives at any time in administrative interactions with the BIR and the BOC.’ In addition, the taxpayer shall have the right to be given ample opportunity to present proof and prepare the defense, including the right to present witnesses in his favor,” Angara explained.

“Any move to deny the taxpayer documents and information is prohibited as the bill guarantees ‘the right to be served with all the necessary documents’ on time,” the senator added.

Also, a taxpayer can invoke the “right to procedural safeguards with respect to recording of interviews during tax determination or collection processes conducted by the BIR and the BOC” if SB 308 is passed into law, he said.

“I have also included a provision mandating that in all dealings, the taxpayer has the right to be treated in a professional manner by any revenue personnel. All encounters between the taxman and the taxpayer must be pleasant,” according to Angara. JE/rga

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