PHL working to provide simple, convenient tax payment service — Palace

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MANILA — Malacanang on Monday said the government is working to provide a simple and convenient way to pay taxes needed to fund economic growth, as it also expects pending legislation can contribute remarkably to tax reform.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

issued his statement in reaction to findings in the PricewaterhouseCoopers study that the Philippines has one of the most tedious systems for paying taxes.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is the largest professional services firms in the world providing assurance, tax and advisory services to clients in 150 countries.

“Patuloy na sinisikap ng pamahalaan na gawing mas simple at kumbiyente ang pagbabayad ng buwis upang maging higit na episyente ang pagkalap ng rentas internas na siyang nagpipinansya sa pag-unlad ng ekonomiya,” he said.

Coloma said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is implementing various systems aimed to facilitate access to taxpayers.

Apart from these initiatives, the Philippines also expects that legislation can contribute significantly to tax reform.

These are the proposed bills being studied by the Senate and Congress, including those that seek to cut the income tax rates for individuals and corporations from 32 percent and 30 percent, respectively, to 15 percent; the continued exemption of minimum wage workers from income tax; and those that would impose no taxes on net income below Php20,000.