BIR to enforce 12% VAT on toll fees starting Aug. 16

The government will impose the 12-percent value-added tax on toll way charges nationwide starting Aug. 16, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said Wednesday. "I issued a revenue memorandum circular yesterday that states that starting Aug. 16, the VAT on toll will be imposed," BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said in a press briefing in Malacañang. The imposition of VAT on toll fees is nothing new because it is stated in the amended VAT law, she said "We should collect what is an existing tax. This is an existing tax that should have been collected since 2005," she added. Henares ordered the Toll Regulatory Board and the Department of Transportation and Communications to adjust the toll way charges to reflect the VAT starting Aug. 16. The VAT on toll way charges will add P1 billion monthly to government coffers, according to the BIR chief. The bureau planned for a collection goal of P860 billion this year, but it fell short of P17.5 billion in its January-to-June target, Henares said. She believes that the bureau would still be able to meet its year-end goal through aggressive tax collection efforts. "I have confidence in my people, I have confidence in the new attitude of the Filipino people that they want to help the government," she said. The BIR is also trying to make its enforcement activities stronger by filing cases against tax evaders. Last week, the BIR charged pawnshop owner William Villarica for faling to file income tax returns for seven years and paying only P25,607.25 in taxes from 1998 to 2009. — LBG/VS, GMANews.TV