More creative tax reform measures urged

More imaginative tax reform measures in the government are needed to effectively address the registered P4-billion shortfall in target collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), according to the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF), a private think tank group concerned with sustainable economic measures in the country.

Citing the World Bank estimates that half of every peso is lost in corruption in the government, F. Kennedy Coronel, FEF executive director, added that the BIR accounts for almost 80 percent of government revenue losses.

The continuing decline in the government budget position calls for urgent reform measures, particularly in revenue collection, Coronel said.

The FEF also criticized the government’s austerity measures saying that the country’s development programs may suffer if this will be the government’s strategy in addressing the gaping budget deficit.

"We have always looked at the expenditure side but we have never taken radical steps to increase the revenue, he added.

"There are systemic loopholes in the BIR that allows for corruption to prosper and the government must take decisive and creative steps in facing this problem squarely rather than ignoring it," Coronel said.

Earlier, Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin said that if tax administration reforms can capture even half of the corruption losses in the BIR, this will provide an additional P200 billion in permanent injection of funds annually, wiping out the budget deficit for this year and providing for more primary education and health systems, including rural infrastructure.