WHERE ART THOU PROFESSIONALS?

Only 67 professionals in Sorsogon?
By Bobby Q. Labalan

Sorsogon City --- That was the question raised by the head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue after checking the records of the agency relative to professional tax payers.

Maria Thelma Fulhin, the revenue district officer, revealed that only 67 professionals in the province, out of the estimated more than a thousand, have registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue for purposes of taxation as she conducted a review of the agency’s database of tax payers as part of the efforts to raise more revenues.

Fulhin said she would also review who among those registered with the BIR are active in the practice of their profession and who are paying correct taxes.

She warned that those practicing professionals who did not register with the agency as well as those who did not pay the correct taxes will be meted the necessary penalties or even charged in court under the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program.

Those that are mandated to register with the BIR are doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, engineers among others.

Aside from the regular income tax and business tax, these professionals are now required to issue official receipts as they are already subject to the 12 per cent value added tax based on their gross income, Fulhin said.

She urged unregistered professionals to visit her office so they could be assisted in complying with their tax obligations.

The BIR chief said they are also continuously conducting tax mapping operation to determine who among the business establishments are violating the revenue code.

She revealed that there are a number of local businessmen who are deliberately not complying with revenue rules and regulations especially on the issuance of official receipts and payment of correct taxes.

Fulhin said she was dismayed after finding out that some big businessmen paid a measly amount for their taxes which is even smaller than the tax being paid by ordinary employees.

She warned that if they continue to renege on their obligations she would not hesitate to implement “Oplan Kandado,” BIR’s campaign which padlocks business establishments that are delinquent in their tax payments.

She said that as of now they are still conducting tax information dissemination to fully inform the business sector of the various taxes they are supposed to pay to the government.

Aside from this, Fulhin said they will also conduct audit and surveillance operations on some businessmen to check their actual income and determine if they are paying correct taxes.

“But these are also difficult to implement especially because many businessmen play hide-and-seek with us whenever they learn that BIR is going to conduct inspection," she stressed.

She revealed that some businessmen are tipped off by insiders, thus making it difficult for them to catch them by surprise.

Fulhin also revealed that reports had reached her office that some revenue personnel conduct tax mapping operation even if they were not covered with a mission order which gives them authority to do tax mapping.

She advised businessmen to ask BIR personnel for their ID and mission order whenever they visit their establishment and immediately report to her those that violate the rule.

She stressed that they are exerting utmost effort to meet their tax goals and she would not tolerate abuses or violations to be committed by her subordinates.

Fulhin said that for the first half of 2011 her office had already collected P186.6 million, which was bigger than the collection for the same period last year which was P180 million, but way too short for the tax goal of P207.1 million.


When they were still in school, they studied hard. When they got to finish college, they took licensure examination and if they’re lucky, they’ll have their professions. What does it takes to be a professional? 

As for me, a professional is not only IN in his field of expertise. He should also be a responsible citizen, willing to abide by the law of the country as well as follow orders from the authorities so that they can be look up to by the next generations to come. But as per this news, a very simple command of filing up a tax cannot be followed. Who would believe that there are only 67 professionals in Sorsogon?