BONTOC, Mt. Province, August 18, 2010 - The provincial office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) here has been adjudged as number one in the delivery of "excellent taxpayer service" in the Cordillera Administrative Region. Revenue district officer George Caburao said BIR-Mountain Province was bestowed the honor after it initiated changes and adopted policies and measures to raise the level of giving efficient and excellent services to the public as well as in implementing intensified tax collection efforts. Caburao said aside from being fully computerized, BIR also reduced bureaucratic red tape, as registration of businesses only takes one to two hours provided all the needed documents are available. In the processing of one-time transactions like transfer tax, state tax, and capital gains tax, Caburao said the documents that will be secured from the BIR can be released in five days. Caburao disclosed that BIR-Mt. Province is also the number 1 performer in the region in terms of tax collection last year. Records at the BIR provincial office show some P99,437,174.89 tax collection from January to July 2010 as compared to P51,914,021.26 collection for the same period last year. However, as per the revised collection goal, it missed its target goal by about P3.4 million in the first seven months. Caburao appealed to the tax-paying public to reciprocate the efficient services given by the BIR like by voluntarily registering their businesses to their office, declaring their real income or gross sales, issuing official receipts, or simply complying with tax programs.
The district officer also cautioned the public not to be negligent in their tax obligations, saying BIR will not hesitate to use its Run After Tax Evader program. According to Caburao, there is already one case of tax evasion that is about to be filed and another four that are still being documented for either refusing to register their businesses or not declaring their correct income. Caburao disclosed that based on their Tax Compliance Verification drive, Tax Mapping, and Sales Verification Activities, many business establishments in the capital-town, mostly karaoke bars and boarding houses, are found unregistered.
Caburao said his office will continue to strictly implement the various tax laws and collection programs to boost revenue collection efforts in line with President Benigno Aquino's directive in his State of the Nation Address.
