Premyo sa Resibo program heightens tax awareness among public – DOF

A government program aimed at improving tax compliance has been successfully improving tax awareness, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said.

He said the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) Premyo sa Resibo program, which started in May 2006, has led to a significant increase in tax awareness.

“The true reward of the Premyo sa Resibo is the significant increase in taxpayer awareness and the generous cooperation of the public in the BIR’s efforts to improve the quality of tax administration,” Teves said.

Teves led the inauguration of the Premyo sa Resibo Jackpot promo, the latest variation of the program.

The Premyo sa Resibo Jackpot, which will offer even bigger prizes, had its first draw for 2008 last Friday. The prize started at P5 million and this is set to increase by P5 million for every day until the prize is won.

Teves expressed hopes that the latest variation to the program will be even more successful than the original promo.

“Indeed, with this groundbreaking raffle promo, all are already winners: the texters who send in their entries and the government, which will benefit immensely not only from the information sent in by the participants, but from the greater tax awareness of the public,” Teves said.

He said the tax agency has explored many avenues to educate the public on the importance of taxes and on the role that the ordinary citizen can play in improving tax administration.

Teves noted that the number of participants to the program increased to 727,000 from only 366,000 participants in 2006.

The prizes awarded have also increased significantly to P47.5 million in 2007 from a total of P35 million in 2006, he added.  The BIR has been stepping up efforts to improve tax collections amid perennial shortfalls due to corruption and rampant smuggling. It is tasked to collect P844 billion this year.