EDITORIAL - Paying taxes

During the launching of the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) national tax campaign in Pasay City last Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged the public “to pay the correct amount of taxes on time”.

“I encourage the public to pay the correct amount of taxes on time to support the country’s economic recovery and expansion so critical in this time… It is my confidence that you will continue to cooperate, collaborate, and coordinate with the government on how to improve the experience of our tax collection system,” he said in his speech during the launch.

We agree that taxes are crucial in keeping a country running and also moving it forward. We prefer that we don’t have to pay them, that’s for sure, but we have to grudgingly acknowledge these are a necessary inconvenience that we have to deal with. As one writer puts it, in life taxes are as certain as death.

So it’s probably worth pointing out that the president can set the best example for people paying the right amount of taxes and on time too. This is because his family still owes the government ?203 billion in estate taxes.

The debt is still there, pending at the BIR since the 1980’s. It has not been condoned or erased in any way as of this writing.

The Supreme Court’s decision ordering the Marcos heirs to pay the estate tax of ?23 billion become final and executory on March 9, 1999. Because it has been left unpaid, it has accrued up to ?203 billion at present.

We are talking billions with a “B” here. Imagine what such an amount can do to help the country recover and expand.

As president of the republic, Marcos should set the best example of a tax-paying citizen and settle his family’s tax dues. No doubt people will be inspired by such a sterling example and follow suit.