BIR lines up plans, programs for implementation in 2017

The Bureau of Internal Revenue will pursue this year the long-delayed plan to affix tax stamps on alcohol products to better monitor compliance to the Sin Tax Reform Law while combating illicit trade.

To achieve the P1.829-trillion tax-take target for 2017, almost four-fifths of the government’s tax revenue program of P2.313 trillion, Revenue Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay said the BIR was planning to improve taxpayer compliance through the expansion of its compromise settlement program for audit cases of large taxpayers.

With the implementation of the unitary cigarette excise tax of P30 under Republic Act No. 10351 starting Jan. 1, Dulay reminded both the manufacturers and the consumers that only three colors of cigarette tax stamps remain.

Effective Jan. 1, all cigarettes for domestic consumption will bear pink tax stamps; orange for imported cigarettes, and green for those to be exported, Dulay said in Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 1-2017.

The public was advised by Dulay that the three other previously used colors—yellow, violet and blue—must no longer be affixed on cigarette packs.

The stamps would ensure that correct excise taxes had been paid.

Also a priority BIR program is the implementation of the lnternal Revenue Stamps Integrated System (Irsis) for alcohol products and distilled spirits, Dulay said in RMC No. 5-2017.

Dulay said the implementation of Irsis for alcohol and distilled spirits would “ensure the collection of correct excise taxes on distilled spirits and wines and curb illicit trade of alcohol products.”

He said the BIR would expand the compromise settlement program “to broaden compromise settlement program available to taxpayers even during the pendency of the assessment process.”

“We’d rather encourage taxpayers to compromise, as long as it’s within the law. We also have a number of cases with the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA)—those were the assessments often being questioned, and my instruction to our legal department is to work out compromise and mediation because mitigation takes a long time and it does not help the taxpayer or the government in raising revenue,” he said.

He said cases pending at the CTA would be enjoined to undergo court-supervised mediation.

The BIR will also continue the implementation of the Run After Tax Evaders (Rate) and “Oplan Kandado” programs; comprehensive taxpayer profiling and industry benchmarking; updating of zonal value schedules, and broadening of the tax base without increasing the rates by registering unregistered taxpayers/businesses; centralized arrears management in regional offices, and adherence to the cross-border agreements on exchange of information, Dulay said.

To improve taxpayer satisfaction, Dulay said the BIR would review previous revenue issuances  and repeal those that imposed unnecessary burden on taxpayers and hinder business transactions.

To protect revenue and recapture public trust, the BIR will put in place an integrity management program that will facilitate removal of corrupt and erring personnel; revalidate/audit tax assessments; propose legislation removing the agency from the Salary Standardization Law (SSL); fast-track the hiring of 996 new staff, and  use a case monitoring system for outstanding letters of authority, according to Dulay. —BEN O. DE VERA