PALO, Leyte – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is keeping the P6.18 billion collection target for Eastern Visayas – slightly higher than last year’s goal – despite losses suffered by businesses in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda.
BIR Deputy Commissioner Nelson Aspe said that despite negative impacts in the business sector, they remain optimistic to generate more taxes from rebuilding and reconstruction activities.
“There is high demand due to rebuilding activities plus government infrastructure spending. We believe that 25% to 50% of the economy will improve because of government spending,” Aspe told reporters at the sidelines of the 2014 BIR Tax Campaign on March 25.
The official said the target is final and thee regional office is mandated to collect the amount, notwithstanding negative impacts of the storm last year.
“We just work hard by trying to attain the target considering that there are factors that would dramatically increase the collections. However, at the end of the reporting period, if there are factors beyond control, we will probably take some considerations,” Aspe said.
This year’s P6.18 billion target for the region’s six revenue district offices (RDO) is slightly higher than the P6.05 billion in 2013.
Last year, the BIR office here posted a P1 billion shortfall when it only generated P5.01 billion of the P6.05 billion target, according to BIR Regional Director Diosdado Mendoza.
Storm-ravaged Tacloban (northern Leyte) RDO has the lion’s share of the regional target with P2.72 billion, Ormoc (western Leyte) RDO with P1.08 billion, Catbalogan (Samar) RDO with P775.59 million, Catarman (Northern Samar) RDO with P553.34 million, Borongan (Eastern Samar) RDO with P533.17 million, and Maasin (Southern Leyte) with P514. 57 million.
“During the first two months, we set the target for the region as if there was no typhoon last year. I expect that they would not even attain 50%, but they achieved 75 to 80%. This is a very good turnout,” Aspe added.
Director Mendoza, obviously feeling the pressure, said that they would do their best to meet the collection target set by their central office.
“It is given to us and we have to collect. We just need to strictly implement tax laws to achieve the goal,” Mendoza said.
Although the region is heavily dependent on withholding taxes from the national government, but they still have to closely monitor the compliance of storm-hit businesses, the BIR regional chief said.
The tax bureau’s field office here generated almost zero collection from November 8 until end of December in the region especially its revenue district offices in Tacloban, Ormoc, and Borongan.
“Based on our survey, only 25% of businesses in Leyte and Eastern Samar provinces have resumed (their) operations,” Mendoza told reporters.
“Banks were not operating normally, thus affecting the collection even in areas not devastated by Yolanda,” said Mendoza in his first press briefing for almost a year. The BIR regional office has stopped sharing information to Tacloban-based media, heeding an April 22, 2013 memorandum order of BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)
