Going legal is not the easy way
Here’s how our government bureaucrats can be so stupid!
Our family owns a residential house and lot in Manila. There is a commodious portion of the house no one has been using which we plan on renovating and renting out. We were told that we will need official receipts registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue for “reportorial purposes.”
We started making inquiries. We were told to first secure a barangay clearance, a Department of Trade and Industry registration, and then a mayor’s permit from Manila City Hall. All these steps have checklists of documents that need to be presented, processed and approved. And only then will the BIR entertain any application for a permit to print official receipts!
We are not yet in business. The rental activity in that portion of our residential house will be just an isolated thing. We just want to be compliant with the law that requires us to pay the proper taxes for that solitary activity when, or if, that happens.
Why is the BIR making it so difficult to get a permit to print receipts? Even if the rental activity does not materialize and none of the registered receipts becomes useful, what loss or damage will the BIR suffer? The printing of the receipts will all be at the applicant’s exclusive expense. The BIR’s waste will only be in the ink its officials use to approve and sign the permit!
The thing is, the BIR is utterly helpless in the face of the defiance displayed by thousands of sidewalk vendors who never bother to secure a permit to print or issue official receipts. And here we are, trying our best to comply with the law and the BIR throws all kinds of obstacles that make our application vulnerable to “extortion” every step of the way!
GRACE PO-QUICHO,
