DOF urges professional associations to support tax campaign

The Department of Finance (DOF) is urging professional associations to support the government's tax campaign in its bid to increase tax collection from the current 12 percent to 16 percent in 2016.

“We urge our country’s professional associations to support our tax campaign,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement Wednesday. “Everyone will benefit from paying the right taxes when government and private sector work together.”

The DOF has sent its first batch of letters to the Philippines Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, the Philippine Dental Association, the United Architects of the Philippines, the Philippine Medical Association, and the Social Security System.

The DOF is also working closely with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to get the accurate number of professionals in the country.

Purisima said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will compare with the PRC its list of professionals from its database.

PRC data

PRC data showed that there were 2,046,266 active professionals registered last year—149,981 certified public accountants; 126,204 civil engineers; 124,409 doctors; 51,639 dentists; and 30,712 architects.

However, the aggregate number of active professionals from just five out of the 76 professions regulated by PRC already exceeds the total number of self-employed, business and professionals who paid their taxes last year at 402,934.

SSS records in 2011, meanwhile, showed that there were 687,011 active paying self-employed members.

Earlier, BIR identified 1.8 million registered self-employed, businesses and professionals for the same year, versus the PRC's number of professionals alone registering 2 million, supporting the claim of the large registry gap.

Gap

“In 2011, there was a 1.4 million gap between actual filers and registered self-employed, business and professionals in the BIR, which means only 22.4 percent filed their returns,” the agency said.

“The DOF and the BIR will continue to reach out to other organizations as necessary, as well as provide workshops similar to what BIR Commissioner Henares organized for the Philippine Basketball Association,” Purisima said, referring to the seminar the BIR held for professional basketball players.

Purisima and Henares had earlier urged the self-employed, professionals and business owners to pay the correct taxes.

Records showed that in 1.8 million registered business and professionals in 2011, only 402,934 or 22.4-percent filed their tax returns, identifying a 1.4 million gap. Meanwhile, SSS records showed 687,011 active paying self-employed members, supporting the claim that there is a large gap between actual filers versus registered individuals. — KBK, GMA News