Dela Torre Cites Pareto Principle for Surplus Collection

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

ANGELES CITY, Pampanga – The chief of the huge revenue district office (RDO) here cited the Pareto Principle why she and her staff mustered to collect P11.039 billion in the year 2022.
“That was our strategy why we were able to get the goal na napakalaki and even exceeded our annual goal by mid November pa lang. We focused our close monitoring on big ticket taxpayers. We monitored the 20 percent of our taxpayers who contributed 80 percent of our collection. We call it the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 Rule,' declared to Northern Watch Newspaper by North Pampanga’s RDO Chief No. 21A Charmaine C. Dela Torre.

RDO No. 21A Chief Chum dela Torre (the only lady behind the banner) in a photo-op with members of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) in North Pampanga. Photo credit: PICPA-Pampanga

Her Examiners/ TAMP officers personally follow up everyone of these taxpayers before the due date by citing to them the estimated taxes they were going to pay so the taxpayer would feel the presence of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
“Sir magkano ang babayaran ninyong VAT (value added tax), or let’s say Withholding Tax this month? Ang binayaran ninyo last year po ganito, we hope that your taxes this month are higher than last year.”(retorted by the Examiner)," she quoted to this writer how the process worked in her office.

Dela Torre explained that before they shell-out their dues, the BIR was already monitoring how much they were going to pay.

Taxpayers should know, she reiterated, that the tax agency acts like a big brother.
Big brother refers to a person, government, or organization that has control over people and is always checking what they do.

Other Sources

The other sources that swell the collection of the tax office that covers the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat and the towns of Magalang, Porac, and Arayat was the new zonal valuation that took effect in September. It added P39 million or 49 percent increase on the same period in 2022 to the coffer last year. When she assumed office here in November 2021, Dela Torre initiated aggressively the revision of the new higher rates of the zonal valuation.

TOP TAX HONCHO: North Pampanga’s Bureau of Internal Revenue's Revenue District Office Chief No. 21A Charmaine C. Dela Torre.

She said the excise tax from the quarry operations of businessmen in the area buttressed her collection last year to P54 million or an increase of P8.6 million compared to the collection in year 2021.
The collection from the top tax withholding agents significantly increased, too.
She actively joined the group chat at Facebook with the tax practitioners and her staff to answers the queries of the practitioners and taxpayers.
She said questions from them were instigated whenever the BIR reminded them of the new issuances .
“Kahit gabi sinasagot pa rin namin queries nila to let them feel they are valued,” she quipped.
The intelligent and aggressive strategies of Dela Torre gave her an excess in the tentative collection goals given by the national government to her district in January and February this year.
With a probable tax goal of more than P12 billion this 2023, the Pangasinan native RDO-Chief quipped: Sabi ko sa aming Regional Director, year 2023 will be a challenging year for (RDO No.) 21A”.

Is she optimistic that she can do again the yeoman’s job to collect the gargantuan amount – one of the biggest among revenue district offices outside Metro Manila?
“By God’s grace Mortz , by God’s grace,” she told this writer inside her office.