BIR raises P548 million from enforcement activities

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collected P547.9 million in additional revenues from its enforcement activities from January to September, the Department of Finance (DOF) reported yesterday.

Citing a report from the BIR, the DOF said the bureau has so far padlocked 178 commercial establishments this year due to their failure to register o pay the correct amount of taxes to the government.

The DOF said the operations conducted were pursuant to Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO)   3-2009, which introduced the “Oplan Kandado” in 2009.

Under the program, business operations of taxpayers will be suspended and their establishments will be temporarily closed if they are found to have violated tax laws.

This is in line with Section 115(b) of the Tax Code, which states that the BIR is authorized to suspend or close the business operations of a taxpayer for a period of not less than five days for failure to register, issue value-added tax (VAT) official receipts or sales invoices, file correct VAT returns, or pay the correct VAT.

Meanwhile, the DOF said the government has also filed 14 cases before the Court of Tax Appeals   this year in an effort to collect some P338 million in tax liabilities from various respondents.

In addition, 72 complaints filed by the BIR before the Department of Justice   are now under preliminary investigation. The DOF said these cases involve about P3.4 billion in tax liabilities.

The BIR generated P1.6 trillion in total revenues in the first 10 months, 10.38 percent lower than last year’s level of P1.78 trillion. This is already 95 percent of the bureau’s revised full-year goal of P1.7 trillion.

Including other sources, the government’s overall revenues declined by 8.41 percent to P2.37 trillion from P2.59 trillion in the same period last year.

Last year, the BIR collected a total of P1.92 billion under its Oplan Kandado program as a result of the temporary closure of 743 establishments for various violations of the National Internal Revenue Code.

The BIR was also able to file a total of 347 complaints before the DOF and the CTA last year involving tax liabilities estimated to be worth P24.02 billion.