Rewards obtained from tipping off tax-evading vloggers and other social media influencers are still subject to tax from the very agency that would give them--the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Under the new reward payment schedule, an informant gets10 percent of whatever the BIR collects but the amount must not exceed to P1 million.
The catch? Each reward is subject to 10 percent withholding tax.
At the same time, the BIR urged the would-be tipsters to double check first if the names of the vloggers and other social media influencers that they want to tip off for tax evasion are not yet on their target list.
Otherwise, tipsters would end up empty-handed as the BIR stressed on Tuesday, Aug. 31, that they will not pay for any information that it has already in possession of.
BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel SD. Guballa issued the clarification as the agency encourages individuals to report social media influencers that include vloggers who did not declare their huge income as payment for their social media platforms services.
"Informers should submit the confidential information under oath to the legal division in the national or regional office. They are also allowed to use an alias to protect them from retribution," said Guballa.
The tax reward law was enacted more than 20 years ago with the original reward was fixed at 10 percent of the total tax take.
Insiders said that with the reduction few years ago of the reward the number of informers have dwindled.
The same sources said that in some cases prospective informers turned blackmailers, selling the information to the tax cheating taxpayers themselves.
Relatives of revenuers within the fourth degree of consanguinity are disqualified from the program.