Taxes kill in many ways

The matter of taxes seems to be the current topic of interest in most conversations in this normally politically-oriented and showbiz distracted country of ours. And that is good so that finally the taxmen in this country can get their acts together and do what has long eluded them -- citizens first before government.

Right now there are three main topics of interest involving taxes in this country. One is the matter of professionals, especially the high-earning ones, cheating on their taxes so that, consequently, they get to pay so much less than lowly salaried citizens who get their taxes deducted at source.

Another is the matter about why none of the country's richest moguls ever make it to the top of the country's biggest taxpayers. No matter how much the BIR tries to explain the mystery, the poor who occupy the lowest rungs of society will never understand why, comparatively, they are being assessed so much more.

Then, third, there is the matter of income taxes being reduced, as proposed by some sectors, an idea which BIR commissioner Kim Henares said she is open to but not at this time, which is a way of saying she is not open to the idea at all.

If such a scheme as withholding tax, which taxes salaried employees at source, can be devised, the bright boys at the BIR should be able to devise as well a scheme that can tax professionals at source, such as compelling them to issue receipts and to declare every project, contract or whatever it is they earn from.

If there is the fear that this will only compel the professionals to jack up their fees, trust the Filipino that there will always be those who will try to undercut the competition. In fact, that is how it should be -- make professional services be a competition. After all, that is how it has always been.

As to the country's richest not being the ones who pay the most taxes, that is really a matter between them and the BIR. In case you are not convinced, try to pay closer attention and you will realize that each time the topic crops up, none of the moguls ever speaks up. It is always the BIR that speaks for them.

The BIR has to act as the spokesman for the moguls because it is the expert in tax goobledygook. No mogul will ever dare explain why, despite being among the richest, he is not among the highest paying in taxes. Moguls are afraid their feet might get caught in their mouths.

But there is really no need to explain because people are no fools. If a person is in the top 10 he should be in the top 10. There are no ifs and buts in that. If there is a discrepancy, then there has got to be some hanky-panky.

Some other columnist wrote that among all the agencies of government, it is always the BIR and the Bureau of Customs that post the highest attendance rate among employees. Almost nobody in the BIR and Customs ever gets absent or sick. They are always at work. It is as if they do not want to miss any of the action.

And that is why now that taxes are the hot topic of the day it should be as good a time as any to ask the BIR, particularly Kim Henares, why, if she seems so hot about supposedly doing good, she has not trained her guns inward, in the direction of her own people.

Henares should embark on a truly honest-to-goodness housecleaning of the BIR if ever she is to gain any credibility and earn support for her tax initiatives. Otherwise, people will easily dismiss her initiatives as all noise and just for show.

In fact, despite her promises of reforms, she has almost got nothing to show for her grandstanding, except for a few left to hang from among the enemies of her boss, which is to say that no true reforms are really forthcoming from such a highly politicized manuscript.

The term of her boss is slowly coming to an end yet none of the promised reforms have materialized. To those who believed in the promises, what a pity that they had to come this far on a fool's errand. For those who never believed, this is just another chapter in the sad story of this country.