Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to improve tax collection through digitalization to fund government programs and stimulate economic growth.
“For the truth is, when fiscal targets are not met, it is the people who pay for such failure. Projects that would improve their lot today are denied of funding, creating a pile-up of debts that will be paid by our children tomorrow,” Recto said in his keynote speech at the BIR’s 120th anniversary on Aug. 1, 2024.
“However, when revenue improvement is sustained, the needs of the people are met. This makes possible investments that spur economic growth, which in turn, creates jobs, improves income, and increases our people’s capacity to pay taxes. This is the virtuous cycle we are championing,” he said.
Recto tasked the BIR to collect P3.05 trillion this year, which means a daily haul of P8.2 billion or P342.5 million an hour.
This translates into a capita revenue production per employee of P191.5 million annually starting this year.
Recto reiterated his call to leverage digitalization to promote the ease of paying taxes, citing the BIR’s Digital Roadmap for 2024-2028 as a guide on how to achieve their goal.
“I am sticking to my guns that more revenues can be raised by simplifying, shortening, streamlining, and speeding up the process, without leaving the government shortchanged, than a slew of higher, newer tax laws,” he said.
Recto said IT should be deployed as liberation technology that makes the life of taxpayers easier, as complex payment processes discourage tax obedience.
He encouraged the BIR to keep up its digitalization initiatives and implement the online registration update system; optimized knowledge management for chatbot review; and electronic one-time transaction system, among others to prove its capabilities in ICT infrastructure.
Recto also stressed the importance of stronger coordination between government agencies through data-sharing to create a united front in plugging tax leakages and loopholes.
The recently established Swift Corporate and Other Records Exchange (SCORE) Protocol––a pilot project of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the BIR, allows the swift sharing of data and empowers the Bureau to harmonize records of registered corporations to enhance tax collection efficiency.
Recto said the partnership is key to the successful rollout of the proposed imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on digital services.
The system along with other capacity-building measures will facilitate the implementation of new tax laws in the future.
Recto reminded the BIR to strengthen their human capital by continuously training personnel, boosting equipment, increasing welfare measures, and making compensation adjustments to be successful in their mission.
