Top taxpayers' lists to be used for audits — Finance chief

The government will use the lists of top taxpayers to countercheck compliance in the income tax payments as part of its data-driven campaign to tackle tax evasion, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Tuesday “Our most successful business personalities and corporate citizens should also be top taxpayers – and if that is not the case, we need to find out why,” Purisima said in a statement. He said both the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will monitor and analyze the lists of top taxpayers from the national level down to the revenue district offices “We closely review the top taxpayers’ lists when we analyze our tax collection data,” Purisima said. “Based on our research and benchmarks, we have expectations for the profile of taxpayers that appear on these lists and we investigate findings that diverge from our conclusions.” Purisima described top taxpayers’ lists as valuable tools in the BIR’s drive to increase tax compliance. He added that the lists "serve as another way to double- and triple-check income tax payments in populations that are historically difficult to track, such as the self-employed, businesses, and professionals.” Data from the BIR showed that TV personality Kris Aquino, sister of President Benigno Aquino III, was the top individual taxpayer for 2011, surpassing even the taxes paid by the country’s billionaires, business tycoons and celebrities. The billionaires and business moguls were also notably not on the list of top 10 taxpayers in 2010. In Tuesday's statement, Purisima said the top taxpayers’ list will be used as one of the bases for which the BIR will conduct audits on tax-eligible entities. He said significant movements within and from the list, such as taxpayers with large differences in payments from one year to the next, may be flagged for audit. Taxpayers who belong to highly-profitable industries but are absent from the lists entirely may be flagged as well. Purisima said the top taxpayers’ lists provide another source to counter-check compliance in income tax payments, particularly for self-employed, business, and professional taxpayers. The BIR also checks the top taxpayers lists against lists of top importers, top businesses by market share, and other metrics in order to locate inconsistencies in data. “This rigorous investigation process by the BIR will lead to larger revenue collections and ultimately more fiscal space for the government's priority projects,” the Finance chief said. The BIR wants to collect P1.25 trillion this year, a 17-percent improvement from last year's P1.066-trillion goal. — KBK, GMA News