Regarding the report “BIR admits expecting shortfall of P150B in collection target’ (11/26/19), one must ask: Why is tax collection a perennial problem for the Bureau of Internal Revenue?
The government has procedures and processes—but no control over receipts, which can be printed by bulk from any printer. So many receipts can be left unused or discarded, making it easy for a company to hide earnings.
Only 30-35 percent of taxes are collected annually, because there is no incentive for the taxpayer to participate in governmeno policy.
Perhaps the time has come to try a “unified receipt system,” with receipts originating from one source and thus can be monitored more easily.
Those same receipts can be used as entries in a raffle to provide incentives to honest taxpayers.
Another way would be to give rebates to individuals who report those who commit tax evasion.
CARLO CORDOVA
Commonwealth Avenue
Pasong Putik, Quezon City