Thr BIR, under the watch of Esquivias, was mandated to collect a moundful of taxes! However, to do it, he was given a SPOON instead of a SPADE! At least, he was not given a FORK!!!
Submitted by ebumali on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 10:09.(UPDATE) Esquivias takes full responsibility for missed tax goals
By Judith Balea, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/03/2009 12:15 PM
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Malacañang still to name new BIR chief
MANILA - Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief Sixto Esquivias IV resigned his post because the tax agency has been missing its monthly collection targets under his watch, the newly appointed BIR officer-in-charge (OIC) said on Tuesday.
"He (Esquivias) is taking full responsibility. He said he submits to the President the opportunity to appoint the next suitable replacement," said BIR senior deputy commissioner Joel Tan-Torres who has been named acting BIR chief.
Tan-Torres further clarified that there was no "controversial element or story" behind Esquivias' departure, dousing speculations. (Read Esquivias' background here.)
"In his letter, he just said that despite his most earnest and diligent efforts, he was unable to consistently meet targets of the agency because of different circumstances that have contributed to the shortfall. I was the one who hand-carried (his resignation letter) to the Finance Secretary," he explained.
Last week, Esquivias resigned after he allegedly got a mouthful during a Cabinet meeting for missing BIR's tax collection goals. There were also rumors that he had qualms about the President's decision to appoint Secretary Narciso Santiago Jr., husband of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, as head of the BIR's Large Taxpayers Service unit.
Malacañang has accepted his resignation.
Still no new BIR chief
It has been several days since the BIR chief resigned, but his position remains unfilled.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde announced on Tuesday, the day Esquivias' replacement was expected to be named, that President Arroyo only designated Tan-Torres as OIC of BIR pending the appointment of a new commissioner. (Read Tan-Torres' background here.)
Earlier, a source familiar with the goings-on at BIR said that Tan-Torres would most likely take over the helm of the agency.
"He’s the most logical pick considering he is the most senior in BIR," the source told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
Some of the roles of Tan-Torres replicate those of Esquivias.
On Tuesday, the interim chief enumerated his plans to improve tax collections. (Read: BIR interim chief lists tax collection strategies)
Tax collection
Latest data from the Department of Finance, which oversees the BIR, showed that the agency's tax collection amounted to P557 billion in January to September this year, much lower than the 9-month official target of P596.2 billion and the P587.9 billion collected in the same period last year.
Taxes collected by BIR account for about three-fourths or 75% of the government's total revenues.
The agency's poor collection has bloated the country's budget deficit, which is widely seen to exceed the P250-billion ceiling for 2009.
The BIR's dwindling tax effort has been blamed on several factors including inefficient tax administration, widespread tax evasion and corruption. Worsening this was the global economic crisis, which slowed down businesses and triggered massive job lay-offs.
May not meet target
Tan-Torres acknowledged that the BIR's full-year collection target of P798.46 billion would be difficult to achieve not only because of the usual culprits, but also the effects of the recent back-to-back typhoons and passage of several "revenue-eroding" measures.
"The target was realistic during the time of goal-setting which was 4 to 5 months before the end of 2008. But major events in 2009 will have to be taken into account," he said, without giving the estimated revenue losses from such events.
Tan-Torres noted that casualty losses arising from the typhoons "will adversely reduce taxable income." He added that the 150% tax deduction incentive given to those assisting in the restoration of damaged public schools will result in income tax losses for BIR.
Also, he said 6 revenue-eroding laws passed by Congress this year have contributed to poor tax collection. These include the income tax relief law; the National Grid Corp. franchise law, which allowed the firm to pay a 3% franchise tax in lieu of other taxes; the Personal Equity and Retirement Account law; Real-Estate Investment Trusts law; the Tourism Act; and the abolition of the documentary stamp tax on the secondary trading of stocks.
"The BIR collection group is in discussions with the DOF to acertain these unfactored items that came after the goal-setting. This way, we can be properly appraised and evaluated. We hope that in the end of this exercise, in spite of probably not meeting the P798-billion target, taking into account the unfactored items, we will still be able to show that we have been efficient and in fact, exceeded expectations," he told reporters.
Tan-Torres said the BIR's full-year collection target is unlikely to be revised. - With reports from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News, and Lala Rimando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
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