BIR raises P200M from tax amnesty program

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has so far raised P200 million from the implementation of its tax amnesty program.

The latest figure is still way below the agency’s target to collect P4 billion from the program.

The BIR, the government’s main tax agency, started implementing its tax amnesty program last Sept.6.

Two months into the program’s implementation, the BIR has so far raised P200 million, Internal Revenue Commissioner Lilian Hefti said.

Hefti also said that there are more corporate taxpayers compared to individual taxpayers that have availed of amnesty from the agency.

“It’s about P200 million. We are still far from the target but anyway, we have until March 2008,” she said.

The BIR is eyeing to raise roughly P4 billion from the implementation of the Tax Amnesty Law of 2007, the law that immunes a qualified taxpayer from any law suits involving deficient tax payments covering the period 2005 and prior years if he or she pays the tax amnesty fee.

Under the law, delinquent taxpayers have six months or until March next year to avail of tax amnesty from the BIR.

Hefti expressed hopes that the tax bureau will meet the target of P4 billion by March as she urged taxpayers with delinquent payments to take advantage of the program.

“There’s still a lot of time so hopefully, we will meet the P4 billion,” Hefti said on the sidelines of a recent Senate hearing.

Under the law, the tax amnesty rate is five percent of a taxpayer’s net worth or a fee ranging from P25,000 to P500,000 depending on the net worth.

The BIR is under heavy pressure to raise revenues to help boost state coffers.

The agency is tasked to collect P765 billion this year and P845 billion in 2008.