Increase in revenues eyed from Cordillera small-scale mining

NEWLY appointed Bureau of Internal Revenue-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Regional Director Eduardo Bajador is eyeing increased revenues from small-scale mining this year.

Bajador, formerly assigned with BIR Caraga Region, after conducting consultations with revenue district officers and employees of BIR-CAR, said there is no difference between revenues collected between his previous assignment and the Cordilleras.

He said mining companies and industries based in the region should be stringently monitored in remitting the right taxes to help the agency hit targets for the coming year.

Small-scale mining industries in his previous assignment, he said, have contributed a lot to the increase in revenues they collected in 2010.

The only difference he can see in the business scenario of the two regions is the Cordilleras is the hub of North Luzon in tourism revenues infusing millions to the local economy.

On his first week as the regional director, Bajador conducted a series of consultations with BIR-CAR employees to further strengthen their knowledge on existing and new orders from the head office.

The BIR is expecting to collect over P940 billion for 2011.

With this, he said the BIR will strictly enforce their drive against big time tax evaders as the flagship program of Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares focuses on transparency and honest governance.

He said previous institutionalized programs of the agency will still be continued like Oplan Kandado and Run After Tax Evaders programs which yielded millions of pesos in revenues in the region. (JM Agreda)