The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the government’s main tax collection agency, has laid down its programs for the year to raise its collection performance to support its goal for a 7.23 percent increase in tax collection this year.
In a statement, BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay said the agency aims to increase its collection by 7.23 percent to P2.08 trillion this year from P1.94 billion last year.
To meet the 2021 target, Dulay said they will improve tax compliance among all taxpayers, strengthen their budget management system, as well as speed up the recruitment and promotion of employees.
Dulay also said the BIR will expand its computerization efforts, and further intensify enforcement activities such as Oplan Kandado, Run After Tax Evaders (RATE), and tax audits.
Dulay added that the BIR also plans to roll out its Enhanced Internal Revenue Stamp Integrated System (IRSIS) in the first quarter of this year to further step up its campaign against cigarette smuggling.
The nationwide rollout of the Internal Revenue Integrated System (IRIS), which will serve as the BIR’s central tool and repository to process taxpayers’ information, is expected in the fourth quarter, along with the pilot implementation of its Electronic Invoicing System, he said.
The On-Line Registration and Update System (ORUS), which is a web-based system that will provide an end-to-end process for registration and updating of taxpayer registration information, is due for implementation in the fourth quarter.
By the first quarter of this year, Dulay said the BIR expects its Collection Performance Dashboard to be up and running.
This will enable the central office to check the collection performance of each collecting office and Revenue Region of the BIR against the assigned goal, compare it with the previous year and classify it by type of collection.
The BIR will also allow taxpayers to book online appointments with revenue officers regarding tax-related concerns starting this year, Dulay said.
He said the bureau is targeting to complete its in-house developed One-Time Transaction (ONETT) tracking system this year.
This will allow the BIR to monitor the ONETT transactions from the date the taxpayer secured the services of the revenue officers for the computation of the tax due up to the time of securing the Electronic Certificates Authorizing Registration.
In 2020, Dulay said the BIR was able to surpass its collection goal in 2020 through the strict monitoring of tax compliance, topped by making good use of the bureau’s Taxpayer Account Management Program (TAMP).
The BIR's strict monitoring of tax compliance also included withholding the remittances of national government agencies, local government units, top withholding taxpayers and other private withholding agents, and employing online facilities.
Based on the BIR preliminary data, the bureau collected a total of P1.94 trillion in 2020, or 15.14 percent over the revised goal of P1.68 trillion set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee for last year.