BIR to go after stall owners in wet markets

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will run after stall owners in the country’s wet markets to ensure that they are paying taxes, a ranking official said yesterday.

BIR deputy commissioner for operations Nelson Aspe said the agency is looking for ways to shore up revenues after incurring a shortfall of P40 billion in the first semester of the year.

 “These store owners are exempt from issuing receipts but they are not exempt from paying taxes,” Aspe told reporters.

The BIR, he said, is now looking for ways on how to tax these market vendors, most of whom are not remitting tax payments to the government.

Although there are no available estimates on the earnings of these stall owners, Aspe said their daily sales could reach several thousands of pesos.

Aspe said one option is to impose a presumptive sale tax on market vendors similar to what the BIR imposes on tiangge operators.

Under the present system, tiangge vendors have the option to pay a presumptive sales tax of around P200 a day or to issue a receipt.

The BIR, Aspe added, intends to go after stall owners in all wet markets in Metro Manila. These include Farmer’s Market in Cubao, Nepa-Q Mart along EDSA, Baclaran Market and the Balintawak Market near Valenzuela.

Aspe said the agency would come up with a system soon and is now consulting the different stall owners in the country’s public markets.

The BIR has not been able to monitor these stall owners diligently but Aspe believes that tax payments from these vendors can significantly contribute to state coffers.

The BIR has been looking for other sources of revenues to enable it to meet its collection target of P730 billion for the year.

Newly-appointed BIR officer-in-charge Lilian Hefti earlier presented to Malacañang the agency’s action plan that would enable it to meet its monthly revenue targets from July to December this year and to partly recover its revenue shortfall in the first semester.

In the plan, Hefti said the BIR would increase the use of business intelligence to weed out tax evaders, enhance its audit programs to verify if taxpayers are paying the correct amount of taxes and improve tax administration measures.

The agency will also intensify enforcement activities of its Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program against large taxpayers.

The BIR also sought the help of the Department of Justice which has agreed to deputize lawyers to prosecute pending tax evasion cases.