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Nation's tallest millionaires learn how to pay taxes
Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) players, led by their commissioner Chito Salud, attend a tax compliance forum hosted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue at its head office in Quezon City on Monday. Photo by Asti Flores
(Updated 5:23 p.m.) Highly paid professional basketball players in the Philippines learned a new game on Monday: how to pay your taxes. Briefing them on the basics was no less than the Bureau of Internal Revenue's deputy commissioner, Nelson Aspe, at the BIR National Training Center in Quezon City, where they learned the rules of the "game of taxation." The event was arranged by the BIR and the Philippine Basketball Association after PBA stars Jimmy Alapag and Jared Dillinger were charged with tax evasion. "Nobody wants to pay taxes, but the law says, 'you pay taxes,'" Aspe noted during the briefing on income tax. 
(From left) Mark Isip, Nelbert Omolon, Wynne Arboleda, JR Sena, Niño Canaleta and John Wilson of the Air21 Express
The BIR official discussed the definition of professionals, requirements in the practice of profession, and registering with the bureau. Taxpayers must have only one tax identification number, or TIN, Aspe stressed. "Securing another TIN is a violation of the tax code. It's a criminal offense. So if you have two TINs, validate which one is the original one, and surrender the other one," he said. Deductions During the two-hour briefing, the players clarified such issues like what type of expenses can be considered as deductions. "Shoes, 'yung gasoline natin papunta sa practice, 'yung mga gamot na kailangan sa injuries, doctors, gym,” said PBA Commissioner Chito Salud said in the same briefing. “Ipasok niyo lahat 'yan at tanungin niyo yung examiner kung puwedeng i-acknowledge as deductions, and then makukuha ninyo 'yung net taxable income," Salud said. However, the PBA chief suggested that the players use the standard method of deduction, instead of having an itemized deductible expenses in the income tax return (ITR). "Hindi na natin kailangan ng resibo doon. Forty percent bawas na kaagad sa income natin 'yun, without any receipts," he said. 
(From left) Chris Timberlake and Mark Borboran of the Meralco Bolts, Raffy Reyes of the Alaska Aces, and Mick Pennisi and Danny Seigle of Barako Bull Energy Cola
According to the PBA chief, the average salary of the PBA players is P220,000 a month, or P2,640,000 a year. On how much the government intends to get from the cagers, Aspe said the bureau will know after the April 15, the filing deadline. "We'll try to sort out and find out their compliance this year, and we'll dig up our data for the previous two years," he added According to the BIR official, the briefing was a milestone for the bureau. "This is a good sign that our PBA players will be toeing the line and heading towards our goal for the payments," said Aspe. Aspe clarified the briefing was not because of the tax evasion cases against Alapag and Dillinger, but "for everyone to toe the line." The case against Alapag and Dillinger is now with the Department of Justice. "We're not just after PBA players, said Aspe. “Our tax education drive caters to everyone. Every group, all of those who would be giving shares to nation building," said Aspe. Last week, Aspe said the respective players' team withhold 15 percent of their salaries as mandated by law. However, players in high-income brackets may owe the government more than 15 percent. 
Pennisi looks on as Willie Miller of GlobalPort Batang Pier asks a question.
Simplified tax forms Still, the BIR is coming up a simplified version of ITR forms. "Mag-i-introduce tayo ng paraan para masimplify yung kanilang pagtupad ng kanilang mga tungkulin bilang taxpayers," he said. Aspe also urged the players to choose their accountants carefully. "Kailangan medyo competent, may integrity," he said, noting that the BIR has a list of accredited tax agents. According to a complaint the BIR filed before the Justice Department, Jim Olmedo Alapag earned close to P4 million from PLDT in 2007 and P8.77 million in 2012 from Smart. The bureau placed his total income as a professional basketball player at P32.28 million. However, Alapag failed to file his income tax returns for taxable years 2007 to 2010 and value added tax returns from 2007 to 2012. For those years, the BIR said Alapag owed government P17.86 million including interest and surcharge. In the case of Dillinger, 29, the bureau said he earned P694,000 from PLDT in 2008 and P6.48 million from Smart in 2012. His total income as a basketball player was placed at P22.19 million. He did not file ITRs from 2008 to 2011, percentage tax return for 2008, and value added tax returns from 2009 to 2012. The BIR computed Dillinger’s tax deficiency at P13.37 million, including surcharge and interest. "We realize that taxes are the lifeblood of our country, and we want our institution to be the first one to be looked up to in terms of compliance and helping our government increase its revenue collection," PBA's Salud said. — With Amanda Fernandez/VS, GMA News
