BIR initiates programs to further boost revenue

The Bureau of Internal Revenue will initiate 26 priority programs this year to further drum up collections, as the agency hopes to top the estimated P1 trillion it collected in 2012.

One such initiative, dubbed Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated Systems (IRSIS), is the issuance of tax stamps on cigarette packs. The tax stamps will be generated with the use of a web-based system.

The IRSIS program will enable revenue agents to collect the right amount of excise tax on cigarettes.

BIR data show that this year’s excise tax goal is P102.4 billion, or 43.8 percent higher than the P71.2-billion goal set in 2012.

The share of excise tax in the total collection goal has gone up to 8.2 percent this year from last year’s 6.6 percent.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares identified the 26 programs in Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 11-2013 to ensure that the agency would meet its revenue target for this year.

The BIR is tasked to raise P1.24 trillion in 2013, which is 16 percent higher than the P1.07-trillion target set in 2012.

Preliminary data showed that the agency could have missed last year’s goal by as much as P20 billion, although collections for the first time exceeded the P1-trillion mark.

Such an achievement “is an affirmation of the contributions of our priority programs to the improvement of our operations and delivery of services,” Henares said in the memo.

Programs on the BIR’s list for 2013 include stepping up the campaign against tax cheats, reengineering the agency’s core business processes, and setting up an electronic official registry book or authority monitoring system.

The BIR also wants to establish a web-based accounts receivable management system, web-based collection reconciliation system, online system for transfer tax transactions and an electronic tax information system.

It also hopes to improve the online registration of point-of-sale machines and their suppliers, expand the taxpayer base, and establish a mobility system for collection officers using handheld devices.

The BIR also plans to establish an electronic link with the Bureau of Treasury, and introduce a new system of remitting taxes withheld by national government agencies.