By Mary May A. Abellon
DIPOLOG CITY – The district office of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) here has
started on Thursday a nationwide tax campaign with a motorcade around the
city’s main thoroughfares to drum up public awareness and support to attaining
its tax collection goal for this year.
For this year BIR-Dipolog
is targeting to collect at least P1.198 billion in Zamboanga del Norte including
its twin cities of Dipolog and Dapitan.
BIR’s overall target for
this year is P1.46 trillion.
“This is a tax
awareness advocacy of the BIR in order for the taxpayers to pay their taxes
right for nation building and to prepare also for the deadline of the filing of
the annual income tax return on April 15,” Ms. Joycebel M. Molina, acting chief
of the administrative section, said in an interview.
Following the
motorcade was a short program held at the Top Plaza Hotel with the unveiling of
BIR’s new campaign slogan, which goes: “I
love the Philippines, I pay my taxes right. It’s as easy as register, file and
pay.”
Among the organizations
that vowed to pay their taxes right during the tax campaign launching were the
the Dipolog Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (DCCI), Federation of
Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCII), Philippine
Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), Integrated Bar of the
Philippines (IBP), Philippine Medical Association and the personnel of the
Mayor’s Office.
The event was also
attended by BIR-R9 Regional Director Alert Alocilja and OIC- Revenue District Officer of
Dipolog Glendonio Teope Jr.
Molina also urged the
taxpayers to see the bureau’s collection agents assigned in each municipality
of the province.
She added that the
district office would only the tax liabilities/payments of the taxpaying and the payments should be
made in the five authorized banks, namely, the LandBank of the Philippines
(LBP), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), MetroBank, Bank of the
Philippine Islands (BPI) and Philippine National bank (PNB).
“We only accept payment for documentary stamp
tax which is P15.00 and the certification fee,” she stressed. (PIA9)