DOF: One out of 10 lawyers filed zero income tax for 2014

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Finance revealed that one in every 10 lawyers in major cities in the Philippines including Cebu declared zero income tax to the government.

 In a tax watch bulletin released this week, the DoF said that in Cebu City, there were only 84 filers from the legal field in 2014.

 At least 19 declared monthly gross income of less than P13,492 (the monthly gross salary of Police Officer I) and 18 filers declared a zero tax due.

Among the three other key cities namely Davao, Makati and Quezon, Cebu had the lowest number of filers with zero tax due and filers with P13,492-monthly gross salary.

 Although no one from Cebu was listed by DoF as part of more questionable declarations such as the declared income tax dues of only P664, P780, P1,361 and P1,086, among others by some lawyers in other key cities in the country such as Makati and Quezon.

 "When you don't pay your taxes, you're a burden to those who do," DoF noted.

 Today, April 15, is the deadline for filing of income taxes.

 To address the problem in tax compliance, tax expert Raymond Abrea said that the government must invest a significant budget to cut the cost of compliance by half and make it very simple to encourage even, say, a sari-sari store owner to comply.

 "It must rationalize and increase the budget of BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) especially the salaries of incoming BIR examiners to attract the best and the highest CPAs (certified public accountants) to help the government collect the right taxes," he said.

 Earlier, BIR-Cebu Regional Director Hermeno Palamine said they were encouraging professionals which include doctors and lawyers to pay the correct taxes to help the bureau achieve its targets. — (FREEMAN)