Secretary Carlos Dominguez III of the Department of Finance (DOF) cited today the crucial role played by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) under a new administration that has pledged to carry out meaningful reforms to make high economic growth sustainable and beneficial to all Filipinos.

Speaking this morning at the BIR’s 112th anniversary rites, Dominguez said the BIR’s stepped-up collection drive is integral to the three imperatives that President Duterte had enumerated in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), which are (1) to reduce poverty from 26% to 17%, (2) foster a law-abiding society, and (3) to achieve lasting peace with both the communist and Muslim separatist insurgencies.

Dominguez said the BIR has a critical role to play in all these three SONA goals that the President wants to accomplish in his last 100 days in office in 2022, because this bureau needs to collect enough revenues for the Duterte administration to bankroll an infrastructure buildup that would energize the economy, attack poverty and create enough jobs for the people, including would-be rebel-returnees.

He said the BIR should also ensure that its collective drive would be free from corruption in line with the President’s quest for a law-abiding society.

Dominguez noted that the agency’s mandate of raising additional revenues to help bankroll President Duterte’s reform agenda has now become doubly challenging because of the ​proposed​ lowering personal and corporate tax rates.

“The new administration decided to propose legislation to cut the tax rates for individual and corporate taxpayers,” said Dominguez at the event in the BIR’s main office in Quezon City. “This is necessary to improve our people’s purchasing power and make our companies competitive.”

“We should be able to compensate for the rates reductions by rapidly broadening the tax base and improving VAT (Value Added Tax) collection efficiency,” he added.

In an earlier interview, Dominguez noted that the VAT rate in Thailand, is a lower 7 percent, but its share of VAT collections to the GDP of 4.2 percent was similar to that in the Philippines, which indicates that collection here remains inefficient.

Dominguez said that in the last 100 days of the Duterte administration, “the President would like to leave the country with three things.”

“First is to reduce the poverty from 26% to around 17%. Second, to have a law-abiding society, where obedience to the law is not optional. And third, to leave a lasting peace to the communist rebels as well as the Islamic separatist movement,” he said.

“That means a poverty reduction of around 1.5% a year,” he said. “To do this, we have to have more infrastructure, we have to moderate our population growth and we have to encourage more investments so that more jobs are created in this country. How can the BIR contribute to that? We need revenues to spend on infrastructure. We need help and encouragement from the BIR to our taxpayers so that we become a more investment-friendly country.”

“Second, the President envisions a society in which obedience to the law is not optional<’ he said. “The President wants no drugs, reduction in crime and a society in which taxes are paid and the citizens perform their duty in obeying the law, including traffic laws. Here again, how can the BIR help in the performance of those…in the achievement of those goals? Obviously you have to make sure that your tax collections are vigorous, and that they are fair, and that they are done with no hint of any corruption.” “Lastly, the president wants to leave a lasting peace with the communist rebels and the Islamic separatists,” Dominguez said. “To do this, it’s not only necessary to have a peace process, it’s not only necessary to come up with a signed document, what is more necessary is that we have job opportunities and that these job opportunities are available to all the communist rebels as well as the Islamic separatists. Again, the BIR can contribute to this by making sure there are enough revenues for us to create the infrastructure necessary in the areas they occupy and to make sure that businesses there are treated fairly and look upon us as a help to their business rather than a hindrance.” In his speech, Dominguez lauded BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay, ​as​ a "competent and incorruptible lawyer," and expressed the hope that employees of the bureau would support the new BIR head in implementing the reforms badly needed at the agency. “This might sound a little naïve, but I will say it anyway,” he said, “We all joined government to serve our people. If you might have difficulty embracing that, perhaps other sources of employment might suit you better.” Dominguez said that instead of imposing new taxes, the BIR could reorganize its Large Taxpayers Unit, which collects from the country’s top 2,800 biggest taxpayers, to help boost revenues. The BIR, he said, should also overhaul its image by making its offices client-friendly and reducing the steps needed in processing tax payments to encourage more people to pay their taxes ​correctly and on time. “We can have cleaner, airier and more welcoming offices, for instance​,” he said. “​Let the taxpayers breather. You are collecting their money after all​.” ​He said,​“There must be a way to eliminate the long lines at the BIR offices. Why punish our clients when they have come to pay?” Dominguez also suggested that the BIR simplify the “confounding” paper forms that taxpayers need to fill up to be able to correctly pay their taxes. In order to be encouraged to pay their taxes, the public should not feel exasperated trying to fill up numerous and perplexing forms, he said. But Dominguez likewise cautioned BIR employees against “dropping hints or propositioning taxpayers” to circumvent or violate tax laws. “We all know the colorful stories said over and over again. I will not repeat them here,” “Dominguez said. “With a better image, the BIR could convince its detractors,” he noted. “It could emerge a more compelling agency.”