Taxpayer list must be made public

The BIR has no choice on the matter. According to former BIR Chief Jojo Bunag, the law mandates the publication of the list of taxpayers. The “list” was the subject of our conversation over breakfast when I saw Jojo at the Tuesday Club.

According to Jojo, he was himself wondering what to do with the list during his watch. So he asked a legal assistant to research the matter. Jojo e-mailed me a copy of that legal opinion.

The legal opinion Jojo shared with me pointed out that there was initially no obligation to publish under Section 71 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) which stipulated that: “The Commissioner may, in each year, cause to be prepared and published in any newspaper the lists containing the names and addresses of persons who have filed income tax returns.”

But, the same legal opinion pointed out, “this provision has been amended by Section 14 of Republic Act No. 9480 SEC. 14. Publication of List of Taxpayers and Filers. — Following the implementation of the tax amnesty authorized and granted under this Act, the provisions of Sections 71 and 270 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended, and Section 26 of Republic Act No. 6388, to the contrary notwithstanding, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall, on or before May 31 following the close of each calendar year, prepare a list containing the names of all taxpayers, their gross income and amount of income taxes paid for the immediately preceding taxable year, and allow the publication of the same in at least two newspapers of general circulation or the Bureau of Internal Revenue website.”

What is more, that same legal opinion informed then Commissioner Bunag that on Aug. 15, 2007, the Department of Finance issued Department Order No. 29-07 to implement RA No. 9480, which merely reiterates the letter of the law.

Thus, the legal opinion concluded, “it is now mandatory for the Commissioner to prepare a list containing the names of all taxpayers, their gross income and amount of income taxes paid for the immediately preceding taxable year and publish the same in at least two newspapers of general circulation or the BIR website.”

But it must be emphasized that the BIR must make sure the list is accurate. I have received a lot of complaints that their names were omitted in that list prepared during the watch of former Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres. That was probably why he took it down shortly after posting it in the BIR website. To some people, being on that list is a matter of honor.

Wash SyCip

Still on that Tan-Torres list, I got this e-mail from Washington SyCip. I appreciate the points raised by Mr. SyCip but I am bothered by the implication that the rich who can put up foundations or make significant contributions to such foundations can be deemed excused from carrying their rightful share in the burden of financing this government. I am naïve enough to think contributing to foundations and social causes is something that comes from the goodness of one’s heart and is not a substitute for a legal obligation to pay taxes.

Anyway, here is Mr. SyCip’s e-mail:

I would like to comment on your article at The Philippine Star of Oct. 1, 2010, that you did not find me on the list of top 500 taxpayers of CY 2008. May I suggest that you take into account tax withheld from professionals like myself. (I retired from SGV in 1996 and have no further income from the firm.) For the year 2008 the total amount of tax withheld from the fees that I received amounted to P3,431,354.

For the CY 2009, the total amount of tax withheld for this year against the fees that I received amounted to P4,629,104.

For the current year, 2010, the total tax withheld from the fees that I received as at Sept. 30, 2010 amounted to P4,574,662.

May I also suggest that you check into donations made by the list of taxpayers in your list. A high income person may have no tax if he has made donations to qualified organizations that may even be larger than his taxable income.

Many of the key executives mentioned in your column may also be paying much higher taxes if you take into account the withholding tax on their salaries and bonuses from the companies they manage. (But taxes withheld and bonuses should have been reported and accounted for in that list. The reason why movie stars are paying high taxes is because that is withheld at the source… boo chanco).

In fairness to the tax paying executives, may I suggest that you publicize this letter so that the public may know that these hardworking executives are making a proper contribution to the economy. –Boo Chanco (The Philippine Star)