Hefti resignation won't affect tax collection this year - Teves

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the resignation of Internal Revenue Commissioner Lilian Hefti would not have any impact on tax collection for the remainder of the year given the fiscal reforms that are already in place.

“We have in place our action plans which we will be implementing more vigorously to generate the resources to finance critical spending to achieve our growth objectives and provide for the needs of our people,” Teves said during the weekend.

Finance department sources said that while Teves had backed Hefti’s appointment as BIR chief last year, the two did not get along very well during the BIR chief’s term.

Hefti, who resigned last week, rarely attended Teves’ monthly briefings on the government’s fiscal position and merely sent her deputy commissioners.

On the other hand, Hefti’s counterpart at the Bureau of Customs, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales regularly attended these crucial briefings along with his deputy commissioners.

Separate sources at the Finance department confirmed that Teves and Hefti did not have a very healthy working relationship, owing to the BIR’s chief refusal to follow collection targets and Teves’ insistence on keeping the BIR’s previously set collection goals.

Nevertheless, Teves expressed his gratitude to Hefti for serving as BIR chief.

“We thank Ms. Hefti for her contribution in our efforts to improve tax collection and wish her all the best,” Teves said.

Last week, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed Hefti’s resignation. However, the BIR chief has remained silent as to the real reasons for her resignation even as talks among government officials and businessmen have circulated that she has been removed from office due to her failure to meet collection targets and her rumored discordant relationship with the Finance department.

This year, the BIR is tasked to collect P845 billion but the tax agency has been perennially falling short of its monthly revenue goals.   

Malacañang has not made any announcement as of press time yesterday but sources said the shortlist of choices for Hefti’s replacement includes former Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo and former BIR deputy commissioners Kim Henares and Sixto Esquivas IV

Hefti was appointed officer-in-charge of the BIR in July 2007.  She took her oath as BIR chief in September last year, replacing former BIR Commissioner Jose Bunag.

Prior to her appointment as BIR chief, Hefti served as the agency’s Deputy Commissioner for Operations. A topnotcher of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) board and bar examinations, Hefti has been with the BIR for 29 years.