BIR hoping to acquire another MCC grant

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue is hoping to secure another grant funding from the Millennium Challenge Corp. to help bankroll the full computerization of its operations and reduce opportunities for corruption.

The MCC, an independent US aid agency that is helping lead the fight against global poverty, extended a $434 million financial aid to the Philippines in 2010.  Of that amount, P54.3 million went to the BIR to shore up the agency’s revenues and modernization its collection system.

With the Philippines qualified for a new five-year grant from the MCC, BIR commissioner Kim Henares is hopeful that the agency would once again be tapped as a beneficiary of the compact.

MCC was created by the US Congress in 2003 to provide multi-year economic assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations.

The Philippines garnered high scores in the US aid agency’s scorecard for fiscal year 2015, making it eligible for a second grant.

The MCC scorecard measures a country’s performance peers based on independent, third party indicators that fall under three categories — economic freedom, investing in people and ruling justly.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima earlier said the  “Philippines’ eligibility adds to the virtuous cycle we began with good governance in our bid to promote inclusive, sustainable growth.”

The BIR has identified 27 priority programs this year to further boost collections and meet its revenue target of P1.703 trillion.

One such initiative is the establishment of an online system for transfer tax transactions to expedite processing of one-time transactions, issuance of certificate of Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) and boost collections.  This program aims to provide a facility for BIR officers to review and approve online the one-time transactions filed by taxpayers.

One-time transaction includes not only transfer of real properties and stocks not traded in the stock exchange but also transfer of properties in connection with estate tax and donor’s tax.

The BIR also plans to put in place a web-based system that generates the CAR with barcode and electronically transmits data to Land Registration Authority.  This is expected to eliminate or reduce revenue losses from all trips of transfer tax transactions.

An online system for accreditation importers and customs brokers will likewise be adopted. This will automate the manual accreditation process from the filing of application to the issuance of importers/brokers clearance certificate.

The BIR shall also put in place a system that will automatically compute the earmarked shares of the Local Government Units and other government agencies-beneficiaries of the internal revenue tax collections. This system will expedite data generations and validation to ensure quality of data.

Aside from these, the BIR will adopt a new process for the electronic exchange of information/data between the BIR and the BTR with respect to collections and the remittances of internal revenue taxes across all collection channels.

A web-based facility will likewise be installed to enable the BIR to automatically create and update its database of absolutely forfeited properties, and monitor the handling of forfeited properties from the time of absolute forfeiture up to final disposition.