Parayno reports BIR collected P258.08 B in first 7 months

Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno said yesterday his agency has collected P258.08 billion in taxes from January to July this year.

In a report to President Arroyo, Parayno said the amount represents an increase of P25.11 billion or 10.33 percent over tax collections for the first seven months of last year.

"This was due in part to the bureau’s continuing tax compliance verification drive and its special operation against low compliance sectors," he said.

Parayno branded as "half-truths" claims of some lawmakers that there is no need to pass into law the eight tax bills of Mrs. Arroyo.

"While it is true, there are many revenue leakages, it is also true the reason why we have not been able to optimize (tax collection) is because of defective tax legislation," he said.

Parayno said studies show that the country’s gross domestic product has fallen between 1998 and 2002 after a drop in tax collections.

"Although in absolute terms, or in peso terms, it had been increasing, but as a percentage of the GDP, it has been going down for the last five years," he said.

"We have reversed already the longest fall in the history of the BIR," he added.

Parayno said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) under his watch has brought up the tax effort to 10.11 percent of the GDP.

"At the beginning of 2003, we have told ourselves and to the nation that we are going to rise from our fall, and we were able to deliver on our commitment to rise from our fall," he said.

Parayno rejected the arguments of some lawmakers that efficent tax collection would result in additional burdens for the people.

"It depends on the ambitions of the people," he said.

"If we will choose a vision of remaining on just happy-go-lucky, then we should not aspire to collect additional taxes.

"We must try to explain to the public that we are facing a very big problem, and I think everyone should study on what is the lesser evil for them — to pay new taxes or to see prospects of a fiscal crisis," he said.

Parayno said Finance Secretary Juanita Amatong has banned any talk about the eight tax bills until they have been drafted and submitted to Congress.

"In the meantine that these bills are not yet drafted, nobody can talk about it in the department except the undersecretary for revenue operations at the DOF, Undersecretary Grace Tan," he said.

"We’re still crafting the bills, so there is nothing that we can inform the public on yet," he said.

Parayno said one of the eight tax bills being pushed by Mrs. Arroyo seeks to index the "sin taxes" to "correct the defect" in the law.

"The tax rate and tax bracket (on "sin" products) should have been indexed to inflation so that while the prices of these products are going up, the tax bracket and tax rate would also go up," he said.

"Everybody agrees to this sin tax bill, now the quarrel is over how to increase it, depending on the formula to be used on the fight over market share," he said.

Parayno said Congress would have to craft the bill in such a way that it would not favor one cigarette manufacturer over another.

"Others claim that if the tax is increased, it would encourage counterfeiting and smuggling," he said. "But in our view, this is just an alibi."

Parayno denied reports the prospect of implementing new tax bills has prompted him to resign from the BIR.

"I’ve sent two resignation letters to the President and we have talked with each other, and she told me it’s not timely for me to leave the agency," he said.

"I’ve told the President these were the things that we have done, and these were the things that we have not done," he said.

"What is really needed is someone who is competent to lead the BIR, and I don’t think I am the best that you can find.

"If it is possible, we can look for someone who can really solve these problems. I am saying that we are really facing big problems, we’ve got to find the best person for the job. But the President told me, ‘Just stay there for now,’" Parayno said.

He has assigned BIR Deputy Commissioner Jose Mario Bunag as his representative to a task force of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council that is drafting the tax bills, Parayno added.