SO, the Bureau of Internal Revenue or BIR is now waging an intensified tax campaign and encouraged taxpayers to declare and pay right taxes, ferret out tax cheats and evaders and come out, along with other tax-collecting agencies with substantial revenues for our P5.2 trillion national budget.
Even Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., is pitching a tax payment campaign and urged fellow Filipinos to pay the correct taxes and help in the economic recovery of our country. He should set a good example for all taxpayers by reviewing his tax records and accounts, as well as his family's whose tax records remain spotty and far from ideal!
Previous reports say that he and his family owe the government as much as P2 billion pesos in taxes, penalties and surcharges emanating from past income mainly from the Marcos estate.
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I've seen the State of the Union address of US President Joe Bidean last Wednesday, Feb 8, 2023 wherein he revealed that there are almost a thousand American billionaires but he lamented that severa; of them paid no taxes. Whew!
He therefore appealed to his audience: members of Congress and the American people to rally up support and enthusiasm to the drive to declare and pay taxes to defray social services, infrastructure and othr economic agenda.
Amid the heckling by the opposing Republicans, President Biden had maintained his composure and asked for a united effort toward bipartisanship and pass laws beneficial to the American people.
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No country in the world can exist in a prolonged period without taxes paid willingly by the people and this applies even to the United States which is considered the most powerful, economically and militarily.
The Philippines is no exception as it struggles to co-exist with other nations. It needs our support and cooperation by generating revenues by way of taxes to bankroll its national agenda. Its budget, by the way, is increasing every year, proof that it is striving to grow bigger and stronger.
It may not have as many billionaires as the United States, but the conglomerates like SM Supermalls can continue supporting it by paying heavy taxes promptly. Truly, taxes are the lifeblood of the country and the beneficiaries are its people living in different strata of society.
All told, there is no substitute for adherence to tax laws including the tax cheats and evaders. The BIR should promote easy way of filing income tax returns and hassle-free payment of corresponding taxes.