It is a vicious cycle. In my professional life as a CPA and lawyer, I have always encounter these remarks: "Why should I pay my taxes? The unscrupolous people in the government will just corrupt them". I always tell them to pay their taxes and demand (and insist) good services from the government. Taxes pay for the salaries of government officials.
Taxes pay for the salaries of policemen.
Taxes pay for the salaries of public school teachers.
Taxes pay for the salaries of the President and her cabinet.
Taxes pay for the salaries of the Chief Justice and his people.
Taxes pay for the salaries of every senators and congressmen.
SO DEMAND GOOD SERVICES FROM THEM!!!
Taxes enable the government to construct new roads, highways and bridges.
Taxes enable the government to construct schools, buildings and other structures.
Taxes enable the government to provide light in the streets at night.
Taxes enable the government to provide health services.
Taxes enable the government to provide social services for the needy.
Taxes enable the government to defend the security of the country from threats.
IN SHORT, TAX IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE GOVERNMENT!!!
Tomorrow (April 15) shall be the deadline for filing the Income Tax Return of corporations, business establishments and professional individuals. And while the BIR campaign on an early filing of the ITR as early as January, it has always been the nature of the Filipinos to always beat the deadline, so expect a long queue of taxpayers in banks tomorrow.
Here is a sad fact: Those persons employed pay an average of 20% to 35% tax of their compensation while corporations pay only an average of 5% to 10% of their income. Why is this so?
Those persons employed are what we call captured tax-payers. Their employers withheld a certain amount of money from their monthly salaries and directly remit them to the BIR. The amount of money to be deducted from their salaries depend on ther income bracket. Those who earn less has less deductions compared to those who earned more. At the end of the year, their employers shall issue them a certificate showing the amount of taxes deducted from their salaries for a given calendar year. Thus, come filing, if their tax due is equal to their tax withheld, then there is no more need to file an ITR. However if the employees' tax due is different from tax withheld, then he has no choice but to file an ITR and pay for the deficiency before April 15.
The situation is different for corporations. These corporations usually employ every trick in the book just to avoid paying taxes. Some of them even employ the services of highly-trained and technical tax consultants to legally avoid paying large sums of taxes. I mentioned legally avoid because as compared to Tax evasion, tax avoidance is legal. The former is illegal and punishable by law while the latter is legal because it maximizes the loopholes of tax laws to avoid paying taxes (lessening tax fo that matter).
And here is another fact: Based on the study conducted by NEDA, taxes contributes only 14% on our country's GDP compared to other asian countries who averages about 25%. Do this mean that taxpayers in those countries are more socially responsible? Or maybe, this is where the endless vicious cycle comes to play. That is, Filipinos do not want to pay taxes because they are not satisfied on how the government expend their hard-earned money.
What do you think? Have you paid your taxes already?
Yeah... My hard earned money is in someone else's pocket :-/
ReplyDeleteyep. we should pay taxes but i also like your point on
ReplyDelete"SO DEMAND GOOD SERVICES FROM THEM!!!"
I simply agree with this. Dami pa rin kasing systema na bulok sa mga opisina ng gobyerno.
What I hate the most are the politicians who put their names on road projects, barangay halls etc as if they were the ones who paid for it. trapo talaga!
grabe, mukhang an talino ko na after reading this post. should i pay a tax ba kung hindi naman ako nagta trabaho? andami kong gusto itanong sa taxing he he
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you live in Phillipines?
ReplyDeleteBecause reading you I could only think of Portugal!
This month I must pay my taxes because of being an house owner, January had to pay tax for one of the cars and in August I will know if I have to pay more on my wages or not ... I hope not :)
Interesting points here.
ReplyDeleteDemanding not only for projects but for sustainable and functional projects should be the case for the taxpayers. Yet the very fact that people are demanding for those types of projects is enough to say that the government isn't doing justice to the taxes shelved from the people's wages and purchases. Traditional politicians, of course, grovel at the first sight of their names embossed on the projects which are due for the people. And that altogether reminds us that the vicious cycle is more of a dysfunctional system quite apart from dysfunctional government officials.
i'm not about to grovel and justify not paying taxes or settling the right amount but at times, i feel the same way. i pity the folks in the provinces i've been to, they've been making do with the little they have and here you have politicos and their families owning their nifty homes in the exclusive villages and driving those suv's and partying.
ReplyDeleteyap! I pay my tax every month, it's automatically deducted from my salary.
ReplyDeleteHere in Canada, taxes were instiuted as a temporary war measures act... I think it is still considered temporary even though that edict was made many moons ago.
ReplyDeletei don't pay taxes yet, but it was nice to learn from you. man, i am so not ready to start paying taxes. lol!
ReplyDeleteI just remembered the one thing I should never forget when I took the Taxation bar exam: that taxes are the lifeblood of the government. As I have always believed, paying your taxes creates an altruistic feeling that in one way or another, you have (mandatorily) helped your country.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy I no longer pay taxes to feed Gloria's pockets. Sorry, just how I feel.
ReplyDeleteMy employer already deducts about 4 thousand from my monthly salary. How come my deduction is bigger than my co-worker of equal rank?
ReplyDeleteVicious cycle indeed.
ReplyDeleteNobody likes to pay taxes but it easier to accept when you know that your money will be used wisely and for the benefit of the community.
Higher VAT makes everybody pay.
@ aline - don't feel bad. i know it hurts but it's something we can't avoid.
ReplyDelete@ the dong - i agree. lawmakers should make a law disallowing such things. but wait... lawmakers are politicians too... hmmm.
ReplyDelete@ abou - income tax returns are filed by those persons and corporations who earned compensation/income on a given taxable year.
ReplyDeletepag wala trabaho, wala itr. pero may iba taxes ka naman binabayaran like VAT at excise tax.
@ quintarantino - very similar indeed. we pay real estate tax every march and road user's tax when we renew our car's registration.
ReplyDelete@ spliceanddice - amen to that, whats the use of asking something if it ain't functional or sustainable. we should all demand for what we rightly deserve.
ReplyDelete@ lagalog - that is true bai. karma lang katapat nyan.
ReplyDelete@ kris jasper - taxes withheld. ang alam ko ang taas ng tax rate jan sa UK eh.
ReplyDelete@ dave - i guess the name got stucked and became permanent even if its called err . . . temporary.
ReplyDelete@ acey - don't you worry, you'll have a feel of taxes soon :-)
ReplyDelete@ ian - that is so right. the feeling that you have contributed to our beloved country's growth makes it less burdensome.
ReplyDelete@ marcus - you may not know it but you are still paying taxes indirectly.
ReplyDelete@ vanessa - taxes to be paid also depend on your status because of personal and additional exceptions.
ReplyDelete@ sidney - yes. we cant avoid it so being positive about it truly eases the pain.
ReplyDeletesa taas ng tax na binabayaran ko, lalo akong nagagalit kapag naririnig kong may bagong corruption sa gobyerno. argh!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite quote: "Only two things in life are certain: Death and TAXES."
ReplyDeleteit is amazing to think that there are millions of Pinoys who don't pay taxes, esp those in underground economies - buy and sell, services, transportation - yet they demand to be bailed out by the government !
ReplyDeleteWithheld ang tax ko so ala na akong problema. Sabi nila ang tawag sa economy natin ay "regressive" dahil the poor end up paying more taxes dahil may fixed income kami. Yung ibang professionals (like doctors and possibly lawyers, hehe) and businessmen, di nagbabayad ng right amount of taxes dahil di nagi-issue ng proper receipts. Unfair! And this is compounded by the massive corruption in the government. Mas nakakainis.
ReplyDeletethe primary reason why filipinos do not want/wala sa loob yung pagbabayad ng tax is because filipinos do not see where their supposedly taxes go. o pwedeng nakikita pero nasa tarpaulin naman ng ilang tao, nakadikit sa mga pader o poste, ipinagsisigawan ang pangalan at showbiz na picture ng tinatawag nating public servants.
ReplyDeleteminsan, thankful din ako at naimbento ang tax-exempt. :)
nice, very informativ :)
ReplyDeleteHaha... :O everywhere you go in the world, people are always complaining about these issues. :)
ReplyDeleteAlexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
@ wandering commuter - talaga naman nakakagalit yun. dapat sa kanila @3@3$5$##$55.
ReplyDelete@ kegler747 - the third will be dirty philippine politicians.
ReplyDelete@ bw - nice point in there. that is why they can afford to sell cheaper products because they do not pay taxes.
ReplyDelete@ abaniko - well, i will not oppose it 'coz i know some lawyers who do not issue receipts on their acceptance and appearance fees.
ReplyDeletewhat's interesting is that when my doctor friend read your comment, she said that it is compensated by doing medical missions for free.
but again, that is just a cloak, so i am with you on this one.
(sorry doc, if u r reading this, let us discuss this on our own)
@ zherwin - i agree pero parang wala na rin tax-exempt eh kasi pag bumili ka ng burger meron na kaagan tax yun.
ReplyDelete@ davedblu - thanx for the visit.
ReplyDelete@ alexander - lols. i guess taxes are universal issues.
ReplyDeletei think our government will forever neglect and ignore the fact that our hard earned money is spent on their expensive plane tickets to las vegas to watch a manny pacquiao fight, or even to pay the ads they show for their campaigns. darn! i could have used my money better than those people who took it from me and dare not explain where it is going...
ReplyDelete