CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- To contribute meeting the national target of P860-billion tax revenue and its own P11 billion tax collection for Central Luzon, the revenue office vowed Sunday to intensify tax collection by running after tax cheats.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Regional Director Romulo Aguila, however, clarified that people who deliberately cheated on their tax payments may still make the necessary restitution by submitting amended income tax returns.
"It is the time for everyone to pay their right taxes. If they had not paid their right taxes before, what they can do is amend their return and put the right amount and pay these taxes before we even file a case against them, because once we file a case, it will be a no-compromise situation. It will continue until the case is resolved," Aguila said.
Aguila said about 40 percent of the income earners belonged to the so-called "underground economy," making it difficult for the BIR to go after them.
"There is so much at stake in poor tax collection. We do not expect basic government services to work without enough funds to go by," Aguila said.
To encourage more income earners to pay their taxes, Aguila hinted that the BIR would simplify and streamline the tax payment system.
The BIR regional director also said that the reforms are meant to ensure "that our people will realize the new way of doing business is to make sure that every single centavo collected goes to the national treasury."
He stressed that the BIR's intensified tax collection campaign would cover all sectors, adding that no sector is 100-percent compliant.