‘Twisted minds’ evident, prevail at BIR

I am one with Arnulfo Edralin who wrote about the ridiculous order issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue last June “prescribing the investigation” of all parties in transactions involving the sale of real property as to the buyer’s capacity to make the purchase, and the seller’s to hold and sell that property in order to know if those parties have been paying their correct income taxes (“How BIR makes up for stolen gov’t funds,” Opinion, 6/27/16).

What’s with former BIR commissioner Kim Henares? Papaalis na nga, naghasik pa ng lagim! (Just as she was leaving, she still cast a pall of gloom!)

Here’s how stupid BIR requirements have been during Henares’ watch: Small businessmen wanting to become honest taxpayers by applying for authority to print receipts so they could pay their taxes were being subjected to “investigations” as to their tax compliance since way back God knows when! That threat drove many of them away from the BIR—for who the heck wanted to be audited by BIR officials whose primary intent was to shake them down? The thing is, no matter how religiously  taxpayers  might have been paying their  taxes, those hounds could always smell their victims miles away and come up with reasons  to make their lives miserable.

So what happened then?  Many businessmen  no longer bothered to issue official receipts and, of course, no longer bothered to pay taxes!

Seriously, what’s the deal with that authority to print receipts? Why was it so difficult to get? For Pete’s sake, it’s only a permission to print receipts all at the expense of the taxpayers! Is that something that would impair the integrity of the tax system if given freely? Pray tell, how? Should  not the liberality of its issuance be a way of encouraging businessmen to pay their taxes? The BIR seems to be run by twisted minds!

President Duterte’s inaugural exhortation to cut all BS in government gave the people hope that at last “change (for the better) is coming”!

—ROGELIO S. CANDELARIO, [email protected]