Ang Kapatiran's Chipeco to reshuffle examiners for improved tax collection

Ang Kapatiran Party vice presidential candidate Dominador Chipeco Jr. vowed on Tuesday to reshuffle the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) tax examiners to improve the Philippines' tax collection efforts. “Ireregudon ko iyong mga tax examiners. Kasi nagkakaroon ng mga unholy alliance eh sa [pagitan ng] mga examiners [at] sa mga ineexamine nila. Kaya ang gusto ko, medyo paiikutin ko sila. Iyong examiner sa Abra, dadalhin ko sa Maynila..saan man malayo," Chipeco said. (I will reshuffle the tax examiners, because unholy alliances may be forged between the examiner and the examinee. The examiner in Abra, for instance, will be brought to Manila.) Chipeco also said that the country’s tax collection is inefficient. “Sa aking pagsusuri, akin pong napag-alaman na kulang na kulang tayo sa tax enforcement. Napakakokonti po ng dapat nagbabayad ang talagang nagbabayad ng buwis. Kung hihigpitan lang po natin ang tax enforcement at kung talagang gagawin ang kanilang katungkulan ng mga BIR examiners, at talagang maungkat nila iyong mga tinatagong kayamanan na dapat papatawan ng buwis, ay palagay ko’y aabot ang ating revenue sa ating pangangailangan to a point where I suspect we don’t need to raise more taxes." (Based on my own studies, we are performing poorly on tax collection. There are just a few regular taxpayers. If the government is going to do its job, including going after tax evaders, the country’s revenue might be so high as to discount the possibility of imposing newer taxes.) In 2009, the government failed to collect a total of P298.5 billion in taxes, equivalent to 3.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), the sum of goods and services produced in the economy. Meanwhile, the internal revenue bureau is expected to collect a total of P830 billion in taxes this year. The government expects to incur a deficit of P293 billion this year, an amount roughly 3.5 percent of the GDP. Chipeco also said that he will prioritize addressing the problems of contractual labor should he win the vice presidency. “Sapagkat sa aking pananaw, ang sector na iyan ang pinaka-naaabuso sa ating lipunan. Ang pinakanawawalan ng proteksyon sa kanilang safety, kanilang kalusugan, kanilang sahod, at marami pang bagay na kailangan pang pag-ukulan ng pansin," Chipeco said. (I believe that the labor sector is the most abused in the society. Contractual laborers are deprived of safety, health, as well as other financial benefits.) “Susuriin ko po iyan at titimbangin ko iyong kinikita ng malalaking kumpanya ayon sa security of tenure ng mga manggagawa… na siyang may kagagawan kung bakit kumikita iyong mga establishments na ito," Chipeco said. (I will study the matter and scrutinize profit of companies based on the security of tenure of employees who are responsible for the companies’ income in the first place.) - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV