Tax payments from self-employed jump 38% in 2011 to P10.19-B

MANILA, Philippines – The name-and-shame campaign of the Aquino government is working, the tax bureau said, citing the 37.8% annual jump in income tax collection from self-employed individuals and professionals in 2011.

In a statement on Tuesday, August 14, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported that self-employed taxpayers paid P10.19 billion in 2011 from P7.39 billion in 2010 due largely to its Run After Tax Evaders’ program.

This translates to an average income tax payment of P18,813 in 2011, just slightly higher than the P16,407 average reported in 2010.

More to collect

Despite the double-digit jump in tax take from the self-employed, BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said “there is still a huge room for growth. Compliance among professionals and the self-employed is still nowhere near where it should be.”

She cited the 7.9% increase in the filing of income tax returns from self-employed individuals and professionals to 541,561 in 2011 from 2010’s 501,915.

The BIR scored a landmark win when the Supreme Court upheld the “willful blindness” doctrine of the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) in the Gloria Kintanar case.

Under the willful blindness doctrine, taxpayers can no longer blame their accountants for their fraudulent tax returns.

Kintanar and her husband, Benjamin Kintanar, are distributors of Forever Living Products and considered “professionals and self-employed” who need to file their ITRs on their own. Both have been found guilty of tax evasion but Benjamin still has pending motions at the Supreme Court.

Gloria Kintanar, whose conviction has become final and executory, has jumped bail and is in hiding. – Rappler.com