BIR to probe erring recruitment agencies

The Bureau of Internal Revenue is set to investigate this month the tax compliance of some recruitment agencies following reports of rampant under declaration of incomes.

BIR commissioner Jose Mario Buñag has ordered tax auditors to check on income tax returns filed by recruitment firms and to compare them with information from third party sources to see whether their declared incomes were accurate.

The BIR was prompted to make an inquiry into the tax compliance of recruitment firms after receiving reports from concerned citizens that many of these firms had been cheating the government of substantial taxes.

Buñag said that although they have been sending many Filipinos abroad, several recruitment firms are not declaring their exact income despite their huge earnings.

Quoting government records on overseas deployment, Buñag said that the number of Filipinos sent abroad increased to 981,337 in 2005 from 941,722 the previous year.

The growing number of overseas Filipino workers was also reflected in the significant increase in dollar remittances last year.

"An increase in the number of overseas employment contracts should mean higher income for recruitment firms and higher income tax collection by the BIR," he said. -Jasmin R. Uy