Group slams BIR plan to tax fishermen

MANILA, Philippines - Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya on Thursday scored the plan of  the Bureau of Internal Revenue to tax small fishermen and other marginal income earners.

Pamalakaya said that the BIR wants small fishermen to pay taxes more than the 12 percent Expanded Value Added Tax  they pay for every liter of gasoline or diesel for their motorized boats and for the 12 percent EVAT they pay for every kilo of rice they buy to feed their family.

"Every fisherman in this country can no longer feed his family three times a day due to rising cost of production coupled with 12 percent EVAT and high prices of basic commodities due to the same regressive tax scheme levied on necessities," Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France said.

He  said a small fisherman used to pay daily taxes in the form of expanded value added tax. He said for an average of 5 liters of gasoline or diesel they used for fishing, they pay the national government some P 60 pesos in taxes.

France said aside from EVAT on petroleum products, a fisherman consumes three kilos of rice for his family and that constitutes P 12 per day in total taxes paid to the government in the form of the controversial EVAT.

"Everyday a small fisherman pays the government a total of P 72 in EVAT, and now the government wants to tax the remaining P 50 for state income. This is horrible, terrifying and revolting to the highest order," he added.

"The proposed BIR measure to tax the starving public is an open invitation to war," the group said.

Meanwhile, the Pamalakaya urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to legislate a law that would stop Malacanang from pursuing the move of the BIR.

"The lawmakers are legally and morally obliged to stop this tax madness from the tax madmen of the Aquino syndicate in Malacanang," the group added.

The BIR said aside from small fishermen and farmers, owners of small "sari-sari" (variety) stores, single-unit tricycle operators and other marginal income earners will be required to pay taxes. 

Under its Memorandum Circular No. 7-2014, the BIR argues that MIEs are liable to pay the income tax, but are exempted from the value-added tax and from the business tax.

The MIEs are defined in the circular as individuals who are self-employed and earning not more than P100,000 in any given 12-month period. Their incomes are considered mainly for subsistence.

The tax authority said the MIEs may also include owners of small carinderia or turo-turo and other micro-entrepreneurs. They exclude licensed professionals, sales agents, brokers, artists and other professionals whose incomes are subject to withholding tax.

The issuance of the circular was part of the BIR’s tax campaign, under which it aims to plug leakages from tax evasion and to boost state coffers.

In a complementary circular, No. 8-2014, the BIR said individuals who have claimed to have exemptions from certain taxes should secure certification from the bureau for such exemptions.

The BIR, which accounts for at least 60 percent of the national government’s revenues, is tasked to collect P1.46 trillion in taxes this year.

In 2013, it was expected to have posted at least a 10 percent year-on-year growth in collection although it was seen to have fallen short of its target of P1.253 trillion.

According to rough estimates, the government loses about P450 billion a year due to tax evasion.