The government wants to tackle the country’s current tax situation, and professionals and self-employed individuals are seen as the main offenders.
The Department of Finance will pitch a reform policy to change the current system where wage earners carry the burden of income tax while the self-employed individuals continue to dodge paying their share.
“We have high tax rates for self-employed and professionals, yet we have a very narrow base among them,” said DOF spokesperson Paola Alvarez in a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In spite of stricter scrutiny from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, this group continues to account for a smaller portion of tax collection.
Alvarez said that BIR cannot fully audit the self-employed individuals and professionals because of existing bank secrecy laws.
She added that the Duterte government will lobby Congress to relax bank secrecy laws for tax fraud cases, and the inclusion of tax evasion as a predicate crime to money laundering.
The good news? The government plans to give delinquent taxpayers a chance to settle past obligations through a legislated tax amnesty.
