BIR intensifies collections from tourism sector

CEBU, Philippines - Since Cebu and Bohol are prime tourism destinations, the Bureau of Internal Revenue - Revenue District Office (BIR-RDO) 13 based in Cebu hopes to get larger tax collections.            

BIR-RDO 13 Regional Director Rodita Galanto said they see to it that business establishments under the tourism industry will be properly taxed like hotels, restaurants, resorts, cafes and its other allied services like spas and the transport sector.

“Tourism is a top-ranking industry and a vital driver of economic growth. Cebu on the other hand, is recognized as one of the top tourism destinations in the country. Our challenge then is to see to it that business establishments under the industry will be properly taxed,” Galanto said.

Galanto said that achieving its target which is from P12.4 billion last year to 14.3 billion this year is a huge challenge especially that the agency has consistently exceeded its collection target since 2009. 

“We are strengthening our tax collections by conducting regular tax information campaign to all sectors,” Galanto said.

Conrado Lee, assistant regional director of BIR-RDO 13, said that in order for self-employed professionals to be able to declare their actual earnings, “we urge everyone to demand official receipt every time they pay fees to these self-employed professionals.” 

“It is the only way to force self-employed professionals to declare their actual income by demanding your right as a client for an official receipt,” Lee said.

One of the priorities of the current administration is to increase tax collections and go after tax cheats as the BIR here endorsed one company based in Mandaue City to their Central Office for possible case of tax fraud. 

So far, Galanto said they are still consolidating as to how much their agency collected from the taxes during the last day of filing of the income tax returns as she hopes that they will be able to meet the target.

In 2009, the BIR-13 collected more than the tax collection goal of P9.5 billion while the following year, the agency posted 12.33 percent growth in collection performance with P12.7 billion compared to its goal of only P11.4 billion. Last year, total tax remittances amounted to P12.456 billion compared to its goal of P12.421 billion posting a one percent growth. 

BIR-13 covers the provinces of Cebu and Bohol while four out of the five district offices are based in Cebu. 

“We are optimistic that we can achieve our collection goal for 2012 of P14.3 billion,” said Galanto. 

For the first quarter this year, the agency has a target goal of P3. 22 billion but so far, the collection performance posted a tentative total of only P3.06 billion with a slight deficit of P152 million or 4.72 percent. 

The figures however, were only tentative as all the data from the different regional district offices are still being collated and finalized. – (FREEMAN)