Pinuri ni House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda ang pagsawata ni BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. sa tax fraud.
Ani Salceda, halos 86% ng VAT collections ang hindi nakokolekta ng pamahalaan dahil sa tax fraud, pekeng resibo at leakage sa tax exemptions.
Kaya’t malaking bagay aniya ang pag-habol ni Lumagui sa mga big-time tax racketeers.
Pangako rin ng House tax chief na itutulak ang mas mabigat na parusa laban large-scale o syndicated tax receipt fraud.
“I commend Commissioner Lumagui and the BIR for running after big-time tax racketeering and ghosting of tax receipts. And I am committed to making the crime of syndicated or large-scale tax receipts fraud more harshly punished. – because currently, the tax code does not discriminate between a small business padding its input VAT with receipts worth a few thousands and the P100-billion tax fraud scheme uncovered by Commissioner Lumagui and his people.” saad ni Salceda
Maliban naman sa mga repormang ipinatupad ng BIR chief, hinimok din ni Salceda si Lumagui na gawin nang digital ang tax process at i-codify ang lahat ng tax regulations.
“As is often the case, when someone in the tax system wants to take it personally and run after you, they will cite an obscure regulation from the 1990s to get you. We should all be looking at the same set of documents. That is why every great civilization has undertaken a codification of its laws. You cannot build a harmonious society without doing that.” paliwanag ng mambabatas.
Positibo naman ang kinatawan na sa loob ng dalawang buwang ang maisasabatas na ang Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) bill na tinatalakay na ng Senado lalo at kasama ito sa SONA priority measures ni Pang. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Sa pamamagitan nito ay imomodernisa ang tax administration at gagawing simple ang proseso ng pagbabayad ng buwis ng maliliit na taxpayers. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
