A committee at the House of Representatives has approved a bill that encourages tax compliance and protects the welfare of taxpayers.
The Committee on Ways and Means chaired by Albay Rep. Jose Clemente Sarte Salceda on Monday approved House Bill 7881, or the Ease of Paying Taxes Act that mandates the activation of an Office of the Taxpayer Advocate and codifies the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights.
The panel is now preparing its report that will include:
1. Taxpayer classification/segmentation to ease the experience of small and medium taxpayers and focus on education and taxpayer services for their segments, while focusing collection efforts on large enterprises;
2. Relaxed rules on returns filing and the payment of taxes (i.e., “venue-filing” and “pay-as-you-file”) so that taxpayers can comply with tax requirements anywhere in the country;
3. Uniform documentation for substantiating VAT transactions to facilitate electronic invoicing and close VAT loopholes; and
4. Easing compliance requirements so that tax filings for small enterprises need not be as burdensome as large enterprises.
Under Salceda’s bill, taxpayers, including migrant workers, will be able to apply for tax identification numbers, file and pay taxes, without the need for physical appearance. Forms are also expected to be significantly reduced for small and medium taxpayers.
The bill also unifies the requirement for VAT documentation, requiring only an invoice instead of both an invoice and a receipt.
This, Salceda said, would help expedite the VAT refund system in the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Salceda said the bill aims to improve “tax morale” or the enthusiasm of taxpayers to meet their tax obligations as he cited figures from the 2015 World Bank Enterprise Survey which shows that the Philippines exceeds the rest of East Asia and the Pacific in terms of percentage of business establishments visited or required to meet with tax officials (73.9 vs. 52.7); percentage of firms identifying tax rates as a major constraint (26.4 vs. 20.1) and Percent of firms identifying tax administration as a major constraint (20.8 vs. 13.6).
“One of the roots of our lack of competitiveness is low tax morale. People aren’t excited to pay taxes because the process is tedious, and open to abuse and rent-seeking,” Salceda said.
Citing an industry analysis which he conducted, Salceda estimated the economic impact of low tax morale to be as much as 0.68 to 10.02 percentage points of lost GDP growth.
The provision lauded by both the members of the majority and the members of the minority in the committee was the institution of taxpayer rights.
The taxpayer rights Salceda’s bill establishes are:
1. Right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax
2. Right to a fair and impartial appeal
3. Right to timely and easy to understand information
4. Right to quality tax education and service
5. Right to the consistent and transparent application of the law
6. Right to have the cost of compliance respected whenever tax rules are prepared and enforced
7. Right to privacy and confidentiality of information, unless authorized by the taxpayer or by law
8. Right to speedy disposition of cases, assessments, audits, investigation, and other similar actions
9. Right to finality of tax cases, including, but not limited to, agreement on the amount of tax due
10. Right to be protected and seek redress against malicious, excessive, and wrongful assessments
“This is the first ever tax reform dedicated exclusively to making the taxpayer’s experience easier. I anticipate very quick approval in the House, especially since even my colleagues in the minority are co-authors and supporters,” Salceda added.