QUEZON CITY (PIA) — Department of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno reiterated the importance of maintaining good revenue performance in achieving the administration’s goals set in the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF).
During the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s 119th Anniversary, Sec. Diokno emphasized that “Guided by the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework, the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. aims to achieve three headline goals by the end of its term: one, reduce debt-to-GDP ratio to 51 percent; two, bring down the deficit-to-GDP to 3 percent; and three, cut the poverty incidence to single digits. Maintaining a healthy level of revenues is vital to the attainment of each of these targets.”
The MTFF, crafted by the economic team within the first month of the PBBM administration, serves as the government’s blueprint to bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 60 percent by 2025, cut the deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3.0 percent by 2028.
According to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr)’s latest report, the total revenue collections for the first six (6) months of the year improved by 7.7 percent year-on-year (YoY), which is P132.6 billion higher than the same period in 2022. Tax revenues contributed 89 percent to the year-to-date (YTD) collections while 11 percent came from non-tax revenues. For the BIR’s part, YTD collections grew by 7.7 percent or P86.7 billion YoY to P1.2 trillion.
“Clearly, so much of our economic aspirations depend on the performance of this Bureau. This means the men and women of this Bureau have both tremendous responsibility and privilege at the same time. Hence, transparency and accountability are important,” Secretary Diokno emphasized.
The BIR has continuously applied various programs to promote fairness and transparency in the tax system. These include:
- “Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) Program” which investigates criminal violations of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997. From July 2022 to May 2023, the BIR has filed 192 complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ), which have P8 billion in estimated liabilities.
- “Oplan Kandado Program” which suspends the business operations and establishments of non-compliant taxpayers, issued 134 closure orders and collected P332.5 million in the same period.
- “Run After Fake Transactions (RAFT) Program” aims to investigate and prosecute buyers, sellers, and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) that are involved in the use of fake receipts. In March of this year, the BIR filed charges against nine (9) individuals running “ghost corporations” that had cost the government billions in tax losses.
Making the shift to e-governance is a priority of the PBBM administration. In line with this, the BIR has continuously upgraded its Digital Transformation (DX) Program to strengthen and modernize the Bureau, as well as enhance its policies, governance, and standards to modernize taxpayer experience. Some of the projects under this program include the Online Registration and Update System, Project 230X, Online Tax Clearance, Electronic Invoicing/Receipting and Sales Reporting System, Chatbot REVIE, and the enhanced One-Time Transaction Systems, among others.
In his keynote message, Secretary Diokno addressed the importance of significant responsibility and privilege carried by the personnel of the BIR Bureau to perform their role with transparency and accountability. It is to be noted that the BIR is an attached agency of the Department of Finance (DOF) responsible for assessing and collecting all national internal revenue taxes, fees, and charges, as well as enforcing all forfeitures, penalties, and fines connected therewith for the purpose of nation-building and uplifting the lives of Filipinos. (DOF/PIA-NCR)
