Bañez wants to replace BIR with new agency

Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Rene G. Bañez is proposing the abolition of the BIR and its replacement by a more independent revenue collecting agency to be known as the Philippine Internal Revenue Authority or PIRA.

Bañez announced his proposal during a speech at the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) general membership meeting held yesterday at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

"A more independent revenue collecting agency will be part of the overall review of the country’s tax system," Bañez said, adding that even "the International Monetary Fund had been urging the government to create such an independent body."

The proposed revenue collecting agency, Bañez said, should also be exempt from the Salary Standardization Law (SSL).

"The BIR like most other government agencies that are bound by the SSL, has been losing its best and brightest to the private sector," he said.

Bañez said that while there are some "reprobates" in the BIR, there are also hard-working and honest workers who receive "salaries below the poverty line."

With a new and independent revenue collection agency and employees with higher salaries, the BIR will be able to upgrade its system and technologies.

At the same forum, Bañez also expressed his opposition to a legislated tax amnesty.

Instead, Bañez said he would prefer a tax compromise, assuring there would be less discretion and thus, corruption, in such transactions.