Carlos G. Dominguez
Secretary of Finance
We have a great task ahead of us beginning today. Our country needs to collect as much revenue as possible to fund the comprehensive effort to defeat the pandemic and support public investments to help our economy recover.
That great task falls on the shoulders of our revenue agencies, especially the Bureau of Internal Revenue. What we will accomplish this year will greatly matter for our nation’s future.
The past year has been the most difficult period for our nation in a long time. Threatened by an unprecedented public health crisis, we needed to restrict movements within our borders to save lives and protect our communities, while beefing up our health care capacity. This decision came at a huge cost to the economy and the Filipino people.
With business activity down, we adjusted our collection targets and negotiated for emergency loans to cover our deficit.
Fortunately, both the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue rose to the challenge of raising taxes to sufficiently fund our efforts to protect our people’s health, recover livelihoods, and rebuild our economy.
Our revenue agencies kept our nation’s lifeblood flowing. To the credit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the able leadership of Commissioner Billy Dulay, our main revenue agency was able to overshoot its revised collection target by 15.7 percent in 2020. That accomplishment goes a long way in reinforcing our fiscal position.
Among the initiatives that the Bureau undertook the past year was to digitalize the collections process. This was fortuitous. With its developed information infrastructure, the Bureau was able to perform its functions despite the limitations posed by the community quarantines.
The pandemic fast-tracked the application of new technologies for tax payments and settlements. The Bureau of Internal Revenue was not behind in this transformation.
In 2020, 85 percent of total tax payments were coursed through electronic channels. This is indicative of an irreversible trend. Meanwhile, almost a hundred percent of tax returns were filed online. This is compared to just 43 percent in 2015.
I am confident that the agency will continue to make progress in applying digital technology for all its processes. This will enhance efficiency throughout the agency.
Yesterday, we signed a grant agreement with the United States Trade and Development Agency that will assist in the digital transformation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. We look forward to receiving much more support from our development partners to achieve cutting edge digital capacity not only for the Bureau, but also for all government agencies. The age of digital governance has dawned.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue would not have posted such praise-worthy performance without the heroic cooperation of our taxpayers, especially our large taxpayers who are present here today. Our diligent taxpayers make the great task of collecting revenues much lighter. Your patriotism will not go unrecognized.
Now more than ever, the whole nation relies on the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s bold commitment to provide the revenues needed to support our people and push our country forward towards a strong economic recovery.
This year, we set a 2.08 trillion-peso collection target for the Bureau of Internal Revenue. With digitalization, improved administrative systems, and the dedication of the men and women of the Bureau, I have no doubt that the target will not be just met, but will be exceeded again.
Thank you to all my colleagues in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and best wishes to all of you.
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