Implementation of planned tax amnesty to be ‘piecemeal’ –DOF

The government's planned tax amnesty program will most likely be implemented on a "piecemeal" basis should it get passed, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.

"Obviously, it has to be piecemeal, because we will target it depending on the legislation that gets passed," Dominguez told reporters in a recent interview.

"We'll see if we can do it with an executive order. We don't know yet the details," he added.

Dominguez earlier said the government plans to implement a tax amnesty offer, based on the same program in Indonesia that reaped in as much as $330 billion.

Sought for details, Dominguez said that while the country's program was inspired by that of Indonesia, it will cater specifically to the needs of the Philippines.

"The Indonesians had a different problem—they had money outside. I don't think that's really our problem. They had assets at an equivalent to 40 percent of their GDP [gross domestic product] outside the country," he said.

"Ours is different—people just haven't paid taxes," Dominguez added.

Asked how much the government expects to gain from the amnesty program, the Finance Secretary said that the number is still being studied, but it keeps on increasing.

"Every time we look, it gets bigger and bigger. We don't have the estimate," he said.

He noted, however, that the administration will first have to prove its capability of going after tax evaders.

"You know, there's a psychological effect here. If you declare a tax amnesty and they're not afraid of you, they'll not give you any money, right?" he said.

"Here, you have to know that we are capable of going after people who are tax cheats. That's when we will announce the tax amnesty," he added.

So far, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has already filed several cases against four companies for their alleged combined tax liability of P80.36 million.

It also filed a tax evasion case against cigarette maker Mighty Corp. for the supposed use of bogus tax stamps.

"We will make sure that the evidence gathered is airtight, the cases airtight," Dominguez said. — BM, GMA News