THE other goals of the government’s tax amnesty program include generating more information on delinquencies for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), a senior tax advisor said.
“I don’t think the amnesty, by itself, will significantly improve compliance. It will of course help clean up the BIR’s database on delinquencies,” Lina P. Figueroa, P&A Grant Thornton Tax Advisory and Compliance Principal and Technical and Training Group Head said in a mobile message on Sunday.
Ms. Figueroa said that more updated records for land can be expected once the amnesty on estate tax is implemented.
“I look forward to more updated records of land ownership as a result of the estate tax amnesty,” Ms. Figueroa said.
Marissa O. Cabreros, BIR Deputy Commissioner, said that the Bureau does not have a projected target for settlements to be generated by the amnesty, but hopes that taxpayers with delinquencies will avail of the program to start again with a clean slate, and will allow receivables to be converted into collections.
“We don’t know actually ano ang magiging turnout (what will be the turnout) but we are hoping that a lot of our delinquent taxpayers will avail because it would give them a clean slate, and at the same time our floating receivables, so to speak, will be converted kahit papaano (to whatever extent) to collections,,” Ms. Cabreros said in an interview on April 15.
Ms. Cabreros clarified that the tax amnesty returns filing on Apr. 24 are only for taxpayers with delinquencies, while the amnesty for estate tax can be expected in May.
“The RR (Revenue Regulations), just a reminder, is just (about) delinquencies. Remember that the law covers another form of amnesty, the estate tax amnesty, so soon we will have the draft regulation uploaded for comment by the public para soon ma-finalize din namin (so that we can finalize it soon), because remember, the law gives us until June 3 to make effective the respective RR pertaining to the entire tax amnesty law,” Ms. Cabreros explained.
“Most probably it will become effective by May,” Ms. Cabreros said.
Ms. Cabreros said that the BIR has completed the RR for tax amnesty on estate tax and will solicit public comment once it is uploaded. She said however that the process will be “more complicated” than the tax amnesty on delinquencies.
“Kung kaya naming matapos, hindi namin ima-max out ‘yung June 3 (If we can finish early we will not max out the June 3 deadline) but delinquencies came first because that’s easier and straightforward. Amnesty on estate tax is medyo (somewhat) complicated… it may involve several transfers of property,” Ms. Cabreros said. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
