BIR Gives Bets 30 Days After Poll to Submit SOCE

BY MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA, MPA 

CALASIAO, Pangasinan – Candidates for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) here have 30 days after the election on October 30 to submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenses (SOCE).

Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Revenue District Office (RDO) No. 4 Chief Aldrin Camba said that the candidates for the chairmanship, councillorship and membership of the S.K or youth organization are mandated to abide with the tax law.

The SOCE  is the full, true and itemized statement of all contributions and expenditures relative to the election. Under Resolution No.  9991 of the Commission on Election (COMELEC), the allowable expenditure  of an independent candidate is P5 per voter and P3 per voter for local candidates belonging to political parties.  

 Even if a candidate did not receive any contribution or made an expenditure during the election, he is still required to file his SOCE. For failure to submit the SOCE, the winning candidates are meted with administrative fine to be determined by the COMELEC and may cause their disqualification from assuming office. 

The COMELEC and the Department of the Interior and Local Government have a memorandum of agreement that before the winning candidate takes his oath or assumes office, he or she has to present to the DILG a certificate from the COMELEC that he has filed his SOCE.

                               BET AS WITHHOLDING AGENT OF THE BIR

Camba told the Northern Watch Newspaper that each of the candidates needs to pay P500 for their tax identification number (TIN) and their tasked to be a withholding agent  of the tax agency for the BSKE.

“Kasi kaya sila nag withholding dito kasi magiging withholding aide. So lahat ng mga gastos nila kung goods iyong binili nila one percent ang rate babayaran ng supplier nila,” the chief of the BIR in central Pangasinan explained.

Camba illustrated how a candidate withholds the one percent tax from the supplier who sells the former the campaign paraphernalia.

“Bumili ka sa store ng P10, 000 na campaign paraphernalia ang one percent ay P100. Instead na P10,000 ang ibabayad mo P9,900. Iyong P100 e remit mo sa BIR”.

The candidate is ordered to give the one percent to the BIR by using the official receipt issued by the seller as basis.

 “As withholding agent tutulungan mo iyong government na mangulekta ng tax ng one percent na iyon advance payment na iyan sa tax”.