JDV urges GMA to revamp BIR

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. urged President Arroyo yesterday to undertake a top-to-bottom reorganization of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

De Venecia made the appeal in the wake of the huge collection shortfall posted by the BIR for the first half of this year. The shortfall would exacerbate the government’s budget deficit problem.

The Speaker said the administration would be facing a serious financial problem unless the BIR is able to meet its collection target.

"The BIR is the single biggest revenue earner of the government. It has to attain its revenue collection goal," he said.

He said Congress has been trying its best to help the bureau increase its collections.

De Venecia recalled that the most recent revenue-related legislation that the House and the Senate enacted led to the creation of the so-called large taxpayers’ unit in the BIR.

The Speaker is the second House official to call for the reorganization of the internal revenue bureau.

On Tuesday, Rodolfo Albano Sr. (Lakas, Isabela) asked BIR Commissioner Rene Bañez to resign.

"He should follow the example of former (Transportation and Communications) Secretary Pantaleon ‘Bebot’ Alvarez and hand in his resignation because of his poor performance as President Arroyo’s chief taxman," said Albano, who is a member of the bicameral Commission on Appointments.

He said Bañez and his tax collectors have a collection shortfall for the first half of this year of more than P20 billion, the largest in recent memory.

Albano recalled that the President, in her first State of the Nation Address in July last year, reposed so much trust and confidence in her chief taxman. – Jess Diaz