The self-employed should pay more taxes – DOF

Professionals and self-employed individuals have been identified as sources of more tax collections so the national government can avoid imposing new revenue measures. “We are zeroing in on the self-employed sector," Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said. Purisima noted that this segment of the taxpayer base paid only P9.8 billion in taxes last year. The goal is to get the 1.7 million professionals and self-employed individuals to contribute at least P200,000 each in taxes and that means the revenue potential of this sector would be about P340 billion. Getting this segment of the population to pay taxes matches the Aquino administration’s pledge to improve tax administration instead of imposing new taxes. Citing a recent World Bank analysis of the country’s finances, Purisima said the revenue-to-GDP ratio can gain by 4 percent. This ratio has been at 14 percent on average in the past five years. Purisima said the government will strictly monitor the income-generating activities of the professionals and self-employed, especially those who underdeclare their true income because they do not always issue receipts. The tax collection target of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) this year is P940 billion. From January to May, the BIR raked in P391 billion or 41.6 percent of the 2011 goal. The BIR accounts for about 70 percent of government’s revenues. — ELR/VS, GMA News