Cebu City taxpayers to benefit from BIR’s P150M office

TAXPAYERS from the north and south districts of Cebu City will soon be transacting under one roof once the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)–13 completes the construction of its new regional office.

BIR-13 Director Aynie Mandajoyan-Dizon said they are going to put up a six-storey building behind their current office along Archbishop Reyes Avenue in Cebu City, which they hope will be ready for occupancy by next year.

“We will give the (current) building to our district offices once we merge the north and south so it will not be confusing for the taxpayers,” she said.

The Cebu City-based BIR-13 collects tax through five district offices in Cebu City north, Cebu City south, Mandaue City, Talisay City, and Bohol.

Cebu City north taxpayers transact at the BIR-13’s regional office while Cebu City south taxpayers transact at the revenue district office along Natalio Bacalso Avenue.

The regional tax chief said they initially plan to divide the current office of BIR-13 into two, with one entrance for the north and one entrance for the south.

Mandajoyan-Dizon said they have allotted a budget of P150 million for the new regional building.

She said this initiative was also meant to help district offices cut back on expenses, as they would no longer have to pay rent once they move in to a BIR-owned property.

The BIR-13 is also looking for lots on which they can construct buildings for the other district offices under a rent-to-own scheme with the Landbank of the Philippines.

These district offices are currently renting private properties for their operations.

Latest BIR-13 data showed that the region collected P13.8 billion from January to June this year, which is 6.41 percent short of the P14.7-billion target for the first six months of 2017.

The tax take, however, exceeded the year-on-year collection by 13.51 percent, with the agency only collecting P12.1 billion during the first semester of 2016.

Mandajoyan-Dizon said she was optimistic they can meet their targets this year as the agency implements a seven-point program aimed at making up for the collection deficit incurred during the first half of 2017.

“I am hopeful for the second semester. I have faith, and I am confident,” she said.

Meanwhile, the taxes collected by the BIR in the first year of the Duterte administration reached P1.643 trillion on the back of tax administration reforms introduced by the country’s largest revenue agency.