BIR sets 27 priority programs for 2015

BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

IN a bid to collect P1.72 trillion in taxes this year, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares has given marching orders to the agency to implement 27 priority programs, including affixing tax stamps on alcohol products.

Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 3-2015 issued by Henares on Jan. 13 said the tax revenues being generated by the BIR “support the national development initiatives of the government.”

The BIR’s revenue performance is crucial in attaining the country’s economic growth targets, according to Henares. Intensified tax collection “should also support the country’s efforts in the 2015 Asean integration,” she said, adding that the 27 priority programs were aimed at enabling the agency to achieve their collection targets.

One program identified by Henares for implementation this year was the Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System or Irsis for alcohol products and distilled spirits. This would entail affixing tax stamps on liquor, similar to an ongoing program on tobacco, “to ensure the collection of correct excise taxes on alcohol products” under the Sin Tax Reform Law.

The other programs are as follow: Online System for Transfer Tax Transactions or OST; Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration or eCAR; Electronic Tax Information System or eTIS; RATE program; Oplan Kandado program; Taxpayer Registration Information Update or TRIU program; Online System for Accreditation of Importers and Customs Brokers; Online Application and Processing of Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes; Electronic Official Registry Book or eORB; Automated Internal Revenue Allotment Computation or AIRAC System; Compliance Improvement Strategy; Geographical Information System or GIS; Asset Information Management Program or AIM-P; the Enhanced Mobile Revenue Collection Officers System or MRCOS; E-Linkage with the Bureau of the Treasury; Forfeited Asset Management; Integrity Management Program; Capacity Development and Public Awareness or eLearning; Workflow Management System or WMS; Expansion of ISO Certification to Other District Offices; Exchange of Information or EOI program and the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Intergovernmental Agreement Model 1 or FATCA-IGA 1; Human Resources Information System or HRIS; Procurement, Payment, Inventory, Distribution and Monitoring System; Strategic Performance Management System or SPMS; Transfer Pricing Program, and Industry Issues Resolution-Legal program.

“All (BIR) offices are therefore enjoined to align their activities, projects and other undertakings with these priority programs to sustain the positive trend of improved collection efficiency that has been observed over the past three years,” Henares said.

Last year, the BIR was tasked to collect P1.456 trillion in taxes. While Henares had said that the agency likely missed its 2014 collection goal, the latest Department of Finance data showed that the BIR’s collections worth P1.220 trillion as of end-November already exceeded the take of P1.217 trillion in 2013.