PMA, BIR to set up 'tax clinics' for doctors

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will set up “tax clinics” to educate physicians on the computation of their taxes.

PMA president Dr. Oscar Tinio said doctors are willing to pay their taxes but many of them do not know how to compute them.

“The BIR will do the tax computation during the nationwide tax clinic workshops for doctors and will teach doctors how to do it. Doctors will also be informed on how they can comply with their tax obligations under the law,” he said.

The PMA partnered with the BIR after many of its members were allegedly subjected to harassment by tax collectors posing as patients.

The PMA complained that tax collectors had embarrassed physicians in front of the patients. 

PMA and the BIR agreed to form a task force to help physicians comply with tax laws.

Tinio said the PMA will actively urge doctors nationwide to comply with their tax obligations as a “patriotic citizen of this country.”

“We will police our own ranks with the help of BIR so as to achieve that crucial paradigm shift needed in the mindset of doctors on tax payments. And after we have done this within our own ranks, we will spread the success template to other sectors to help our government raise tax collections needed in nation building,” he said.

It was earlier reported that the BIR may conduct a lifestyle check among doctors to establish their compliance with their tax obligations.

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares had said that the agency will look into the lifestyles of doctors to get an idea about their earnings using documents submitted to the Land Transportation Office, Bureau of Immigration, Manila Electric Co. and even credit card companies.

Last September, the BIR filed a case against a husband and wife tandem of doctors who operate several medical centers.

Tinio, however, dismissed this as an “old issue” that had been settled when the PMA and the BIR had a meeting.

“There exists today a very strong and positive relationship between the PMA and the BIR towards our common goals in nation building. Never in the history of both our organizations has our engagement been this close,” he said.

“If the PMA will succeed with this project, we aim to share this with our allied health professional partners so that they may also be able to contribute more in nation building,” he added.