Penalty awaits late taxpayers

CEBU, Philippines - The revenue district offices of the Bureau of Internal Revenue No. 13 have extended office to Saturday for two consecutive weeks now to accommodate taxpayers beating the deadline for the filing of income tax returns which falls today, April 15.

But even as the tax bureau stretches its normal collection hours, a lot of taxpayers are seen to be charged with penalties yet again, Revenue Region No. 13 director Hermeno Palamine noted.

The regional chief of the country's main revenue generating agency said in an interview with The FREEMAN that BIR offices opened on April 6 and 13, which were both Saturdays, but many registered individuals expected to file their ITRs have not yet actually filed.

If the filing of ITR is delayed even for only a day, the taxpayer must pay 25 percent surcharge, 20 percent interest per annum plus compromise penalty to be computed on a daily basis.

Palamine, who heads BIR 13 since June last year, warned professionals such as medical doctors, accountants, lawyers, engineers, real estate brokers, etc. to file the accurate ITRs as they may face investigation if there will be evidence against them.

Aside from manually paying through revenue collection offices, Palamine said taxpayers may also go to BIR authorized and accredited banks and Landbank payment kiosks or use the e-filing and payment system as other alternatives.

BIR 13 administers and enforces internal revenue laws including the assessment and collection of all internal revenue taxes, charges and fees from taxpayers within Cebu and Bohol, comprising the revenue district offices (RDOs) of Mandaue City, Cebu City - North, Cebu City - South, Talisay City and Tagbilaran City.

Accordingly, these RDOs will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today which is the final day of ITR filing for all transactions ending 2012 and first quarter of 2013.

"We have just concluded our visits to the different RDOs in the region to oversee what needs to be done in these places in anticipation to the influx of taxpayers coming in during the last hours," he said.

Cebu City - North RDO alone was depicted by Palamine as "already flooded with taxpayers since last week that additional payment counters had to be set up."

First quarter

Palamine admitted they were not able to hit their February collection target, attributing low compliance by taxpayers as one of the possible factors to the deficiency.

The deficit dragged cumulative January-February collection to P2.5 billion, short from the target by 4.76 percent.

However, this was offset by what he described as the bureau's "good collection performance" for the months of January and March.

According to a tentative report, actual collections for March was pegged at P1.48 billion, some 11.2 percent higher than the monthly goal of P1.33 billion or a surplus of P148 million.

In the same report, Palamine showed actual quarterly collections to be at P3.95 billion compared to the allocation goal of P3.92 billion for the same period or a surplus of P24.8 million for the first quarter.

This year, BIR 13 has to hit P19 billion in collection target, making it the fifth biggest in the country in terms of goal allocation, following the regional offices in the cities of Makati, Quezon, San Pablo and Manila.

The target is 30 percent higher than the collections it actually posted last year at P14.8 billion.

Palamine remains optimistic they can hit the goal this year with their collection strategies intensified.

"As a friendly approach, our collections are basically based on voluntary compliance. We also do massive information campaigns aimed at reminding individuals of their tax obligations and inviting them to really register," he said.

But if these taxpayers continue to disregard their tax commitments, other collection strategies will be upheld, such as Run After Tax Evaders and Oplan Kandado program, which entails shutting down business establishments found to have material tax obligations.

Palamine appealed to the public to attend to their tax obligations way ahead of the deadline to avoid undue processing delays and other inconveniences.

He also said late taxpayers have always been one of their challenges, especially that their office is undermanned. (FREEMAN)