BIR Central Visayas exceeds target

ALTHOUGH they have yet to complete their data for the year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Central Visayas expects it has met its collection target for 2012.

Officer-in-charge Hermeno Palamine told Sun.Star Cebu that as of yesterday, they exceeded their target by P6 million. He said he expects the excess to be higher, as tax payments made through some banks have yet to be uploaded into their system.

The BIR Revenue Office 13, which covers five revenue districts in Cebu and Bohol, had a collection target of P14.8 billion for 2012. While their integrated tax system allows for immediate updates, Palamine explained that their system bogged down sometime before Christmas, which is why the data remained incomplete as of yesterday.

Still, he was glad to report that since he assumed as regional director in an acting capacity last June, they have always managed to hit their goals each month.

Palamine admitted that he did not think they would meet the year's target, as he started his term with a deficit of P287 million. He is thankful that they managed to hit all their targets every month after that.

Out of the five revenue districts, Palamine said the districts of Cebu City North and Mandaue City have the highest contribution to their total collections. Both districts have under them more commercial establishments. The Mandaue revenue district also covers Lapu-Lapu City and all other component cities and municipalities in the north of Cebu.

As of Dec. 31, Cebu City North had a cumulative collection of P5.7 billion, exceeding 1.26 percent of its P4.7 billion target. The Mandaue City revenue district yielded P4.78 billion, in excess of 0.28 percent of its P4 billion target. Both districts are also the only districts with goals over P1 billion.

For this year, Palamine said they plan to continue the priority programs laid out for them by the BIR central office. This includes continuous tax mapping activities, surveillance operations, benchmarking of establishments and the Rate (run after tax evaders) and Oplan Kandado programs.

For Palamine, the Rate and Oplan Kandado program is most effective in getting taxpayers to pay what is due, saying some ignore their initial notices thinking they are not serious about getting them to comply.

He said they want to give establishments a chance to comply. Should they continue defying the BIR, Palamine said they will push through with closing down establishments that are not paying the proper taxes. Just last month, he said they locked up an establishment that had failed to register three of its branches. They reopened a week later after complying with the requirements and paying penalties for their violations.

He also pointed out that tax mapping activities are done monthly, in areas where they have not yet visited or have not been to in a long time or in areas where concerned citizens have reported the presence of violators.

Palamine believes the efforts of President Aquino and his cabinet to rid the government of corruption has led more taxpayers to be more compliant when it comes to paying their taxes. He cited the fact that they have constantly met their targets “in spite of the fact that we are undermanned.”