BIR eyes P662-M from sale of seized properties

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) hopes to collect P662 million from the sale of properties that were foreclosed for non-payment of revenue taxes.

The properties are located in various areas throughout the country including Pangasinan, Davao City, Valenzuela City, Makati City, San Pablo City, Bacolod City, Butuan City, Legaspi City, and Tacloban City.

"They are held by 13 banks in the different areas and we have already coordinated efforts with them. In fact, some of the banks have already received some bids," BIR Commissioner Guillermo L. Parayno Jr. said on Friday.

Parayno said all the foreclosed properties would be sold through public bidding either in the regional offices or the national office.

Meanwhile, the bureau also issued orders for the closure of 53 establishments, which had been issued earlier warnings for non-payment or misdeclaration of value added tax payments. The 53 establishments are among 1,000 companies that have been sent demand letters for violations of VAT payments.

The BIR commissioner claims that they expect to collect an additional P1-billion or so from 600 establishments, which responded from the aggressive collection campaign of the government revenue-collecting agent.

Parayno hopes to collect the P1 billion within the month, which will be included in the October collections.

Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho approved the BIR plan to include all collections from the 600 establishments into the month of October. Camacho admitted that initial reports of October collections show a shortfall of almost P7 billion.

So far, the BIR has collected P30.2 billion, which is below the official target of P37.3 billion.

"We are looking at an additional P1 billion after reconciliation of the VAT collections," the finance secretary added.