Doctors tell Henares: Clean up BIR first

MANILA, Philippines—Clean up your ranks first.


This was the challenge of Philippine Medical Association (PMA)
president Dr. Leo Olarte to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), after
the agency published a new print ad repeating the previous message that
doctors are tax cheats.


“[The BIR] should look at its own backyard first. It must ensure
that the taxes we pay do not go to the pockets of corrupt people in the
bureau. BIR has many corrupt people,” Olarte said in a phone interview.


“Bato-bato sa langit ang tamaan huwag magalit,” Olarte said. It
is a Filipino saying that roughly translates: People hit by stones
falling from the sky must not get angry. Meaning, when a person gives
criticism, those referred to must not get angry.


“They’ve been saying the same thing to us,” Olarte said,
referring to Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares’ statements
defending the controversial ad that says: “If you’re paying the right
taxes, it’s not alluding to you. If you’re not paying the right taxes,
then it’s talking to you.”


Estela Sales, BIR deputy commissioner, said the agency had never wavered in its commitment to police its own ranks.


“We have an active integrity management program,” she said. “If
there are formal complaints, we will take action. We urge people to come
forward and help us in our efforts to get rid of corruption.”


Henares said she expected to find out the results of the ad
campaign after April 15, the deadline for the filing of income tax
returns. She expressed satisfaction the ad campaign worked. “I believe
it made people aware,” she said.


Olarte urged the BIR to file charges against doctors who did not pay their taxes instead of subjecting them to a shame campaign.


“There should be due process. Why not charge these doctors in
court if they are indeed tax cheats or tax evaders? Do not generalize
because not all doctors are not paying the correct taxes,” he said.


Abuse of human rights


“These are mere allegations and they are not the gospel truth.
The BIR’s shame campaign is indeed a gross violation of the doctors’
human rights,” Olarte said.


He said the latest BIR advertisement, which presented statistics
showing anemic tax payments by doctors in Cebu and Davao provinces,
could possibly be true but not because medical practitioners in the two
provinces were tax cheats.

“Probably some of these doctors are no longer
practicing their profession. Some of them may be disabled, sick or have
shifted to another profession. Perhaps they just filed their income tax
for compliance,” Olarte explained.

The ad showed that out of the 2,825 registered doctors in Cebu,
more than half—or 1,467—declared in 2012 income tax dues that were less
than the tax liability of an average public school teacher.


According to the BIR, an average public school teacher has an
annual income tax liability of P27,360 based on the average yearly
income of P222,552.


The ad also showed that another 1,150 doctors in Cebu did not declare any income tax due for the same year.


This means that in Cebu, over 90 percent of the registered
doctors either did not pay income tax or paid income tax in amounts
smaller than what a public school teacher should have remitted.


In Davao, the ad further showed, more than half—or 1,307—of the
2,406 registered doctors in the province did not declare any income tax
due.


Another 464 paid income tax, but the amounts of tax paid were
also less than the tax liability of an average public school teacher.


“When you don’t pay your taxes, you’re a burden to those who do,” the BIR again said in the latest print ad.


Against tax evasion


The same line was printed in a previous newspaper advertisement, which showed a doctor riding piggyback on a teacher.


The print advertisements are part of the BIR’s campaign against tax evasion.


“Right now there is an ongoing negotiation between the BIR and
PMA to change the ads into a positive appeal to taxpayers,” Olarte said.


He stressed that the medical sector supported the BIR’s mandate to collect the right taxes.



—With reports from Christine O. Avendaño and Michelle V. Remo


| Inquirer News