BIR taps into taxpayers’ sense of nationalism

AFTER  naming and shaming those who allegedly have not been paying the correct taxes, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will now tap into the nationalistic fervor of taxpayers in its bid to shore up revenue collection.

The BIR yesterday launched its nationwide public awareness campaign dubbed “Angat Pa, Pinas,” a follow through to last year’s “Register, File and Pay” initiative.

According to Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares, paying taxes should not feel as if the government was “extorting” money from its citizens.

“When paying taxes, we should feel that it is our contribution to nation-building,” she said.

According to Henares, the actions of the BIR wherein it named and shamed alleged tax-deficient personalities as well as firms had been a success as the rate of increase in the number of self-employed who registered with the agency reached a bigger 16 percent last year from just almost 10 percent in 2013.

But for the feisty BIR chief, it should not always be fear that should drive tax collections upward. She said payment of taxes should not be out of fear of the law, but that it should be viewed as an individual’s contribution to help the Philippines grow.

Henares said higher collections would be beneficial to the larger economy as tax revenues were mostly spent on public goods and services.

The new campaign, just like the previous campaigns, was supported by the Revenue Administration Reform Project being implemented by the BIR, which had been earlier granted financial support by the Millennium Challenge Corp. and Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines.

This year, the BIR targets to collect a higher P1.7 trillion in taxes, even as Henares had conceded that the 2014 goal of P1.46 trillion was unlikely reached.