The future main campus of the Philippine Tax Academy (PTA) will rise on a portion of a 10-hectare lot just outside the proposed National Government Administrative Center in New Clark City (NCC) in Tarlac, according to Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran.
This 10-hectare lot was allotted by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), the developer of NCC, to the government including the PTA.
The PTA currently holds office at the EDPC Building, BSP Complex and conducts its courses and lectures in several venues such as the Department of Finance (DOF) office in Manila and the Ayuntamiento de Manila building in Intramuros.
In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Beltran said the PTA is also filling up its positions to get it fully operational after the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG) approved several plantilla positions for the Academy.
These include several administrative and educational positions for the PTA, Beltran said in a report during a recent DOF Executive Committee (Execom) meeting.
The PTA has so far completed the development of 14 competency-based mandatory online studies required for new hires at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as well as refresher courses for existing BOC employees.
Beltran said the PTA has also completed training courses for the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) and local treasurers as well as executive courses on revenue mobilization for officials of the DOF and its attached agencies.
He said the course will be recorded and uploaded online to enable employees in remote locations to access it.
Under Republic Act 10143, the PTA “shall serve as a learning institution for tax collectors and administrators of the government and selected applicants from the private sector.”
This law provides that, “All existing officials and personnel of the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), the BOC and the BLGF shall be required to undergo the re-tooling and enhancement seminars and training programs to be conducted by the Philippine Tax Academy.”
It also requires “all applicants to the said bureaus” “to pass the basic courses before they can be hired whether on contractual or permanent status.”
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