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Thursday, April 28, 2005
Editorial: Showbiz taxes
PERHAPS in an attempt to distract the public from the ongoing debates on the Value-Added Tax (VAT) increase which per latest report had been pegged at 10 percent by both Houses of Congress, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) released its list of actors and showbiz personalities who failed to correctly pay their taxes.
Among the top non-payers are Richard Gomez and lately Regine Velasquez whom they accused of not paying their back taxes at the agency. Whether there is any truth to that had yet to be seen.
In any case Velasquez and Gomez may hire top caliber lawyers and accountants to settle their tax problems with the BIR as is the case with other popular folks in showbiz who earn huge sums but fail to pay the correct tax to government.
The solutions are varied for the two stars and other showbiz personalities ranging from outright cash settlement to even on installment basis; we would like to think that the BIR isn't unreasonable.
It had been said that Gomez is accusing the Palace of being behind the move because he is identified with the camp of the late Fernando Poe Jr. The administration of course waved it aside by saying the popular actor should look into his own finance records to determine if he paid the right taxes.
In any case cracking down on delinquent showbiz stars while only appropriate could alarm other taxpayers who may not be in showbiz but have yet to fully pay their taxes due to their financial constraints.
There are of course stars who are irresponsible in their finances and should thus be made aware of their obligations as citizens to pay their taxes. Then there are stars who like many businessmen find ways through their lawyers to avoid paying more taxes.
For stars are no different from the wealthy folks who manipulate the tax laws to pay only little to the government while enjoying the jet-set lifestyle that they are so used to thanks to their millions of screaming fans.
But to give inordinate attention to the stars would also be unfair to the entertainment industry that relies on their drawing power on the masses and is among the most heavily taxed in the country.
Why for instance doesn't government prosecute Chinoy magnate Lucio Tan who owes more taxes to the Filipino people than perhaps all the Filipino movie stars combined? And his taxes remain unpaid for at least the duration of three former presidents.
And how about the other government officials in government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) who are paid in millions of pesos and yet perform little if absolutely nothing?
And we did fail to mention again about that VAT increase to be passed on to the average hapless consumer but glossed over by those rich and powerful. It is shown that government taxation is inequitable in favor of the rich.
(April 28, 2005 issue)
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