Tall Collection Order for BIR-Pangasinan

Atty. Beverly Milo

Asst RDO Chief Bernadeth Mangaoang

Despite a higher tax goal given to the offices of the Bureau of Internal Revenue in Pangasinan, two top honchos there hope that they can still surpass it. Assistant Revenue District Office chief Charmaine dela Torre said the P2.112 billion given to Revenue District Office-4 that covers Central Pangasinan is a long tall order. “But of course, all we can hope is we are still in September. Sabi nga ni (Robert) Jaworksi three- minute is a lot of time,” she stressed. The glitches to the collection effort, according to dela Torre, was the collection goal in the first eight months of this year of P1,454,991,000.00, given by the national government to her and her chief RDO Chief Christine Cardona , but her office chalked – up only P1,328,509,460.46 in the same period. In August alone this year, RDO-4 has its jolt after it did not meet its collection goal. “Hindi namin na meet. It is 25 percent higher than last year’s goal of P177, 403,991.61 million. Binigyan kami ng P222, 131,000.00 (this year)”. But she said that in the same month this year, the tax office has exceeded its collection of P189, 350,114.09 versus the collection of P P177, 403,991.61, in the same month last year. That was an increase of P99, 758,672.85 according to Dela Torre. Assistant RDO Maria Bernadette Mangaoang of RDO-6 that covers Eastern Pangasinan said that her office’s personnel heeds the order of RDO-6 chief Beverly Milo, a lawyer, to aggressively inform village chiefs and treasurers through Milo’s program “Lakbay Aral sa Barangay (Travel to the Villages) to withhold the taxes the private contractors should be paying to the BIR. These contractors, Mangaoang explained, have contracts in building infrastructures and public works with the villages where the latter pay them for their service. “The withholding tax is a form of an advance payment to the government which later itong ta-o (contractor) i-apply niya sa kanyang tax payment”. She said the law dictates that villages should withhold the tax that accrued with the project that the contractor should pay the government. Mangaoang said this is one way to hit the tax goal of P997,926,000 given to RDO-6 by the national office. Last year, it has been given a tax goal of more than P700 million only. The problem that besets RDO-6 is the sluggish presence of government projects being undertaken on its jurisdiction. She said that in terms of tax compliance, the towns of Santo Thomas and San Manuel have 100 percent mark, while many villages in Tayug and Urdaneta City have yet to meet with the compliance asked by RDO-6. “Kulang pa. Sundot-sundutin pa sila,” she quipped in the vernacular. Mangaoang warned village chiefs and bursars that their failure to comply with the directive has corresponding administrative, criminal, and civil sanctions. Dela Torre on the other hand said the goal of P2.112 billion for RDO-4 is a shot in the dark. “For three years we collected our goals”.
When asked if the Central Pangasinan based office will fail to attain its target this year, she has the following answers: “ Hoping against hope finger’s cross we are keeping our goal of P2.112 billion” Mangaoang explained that the withheld taxes paid by contractors through the village are through cash or check. She said the same mode of payment from the contractors that have been withheld by Government Owned & Controlled Corporation where the latter remitted to the BIR. The only difference she explained was when the contractor has a contract with the national government like the Department of Publics & Highway and the National Irrigation Administration. “The withholding agent is the national government agencies that do it through TRA,” she said. TRA stands for Tax Remittances Advisory (MCO).