research paper about taxation in the philippines

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The feasibility of reducing personal income tax in the Philippines: Its implications to National Internal Revenue Code and National Revenue

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Unveiling the Salient Features and Development of Taxation in Philippine History..pdf

Imperial Journal of interdisciplinary research(IJIR)

This paper aims to understand the importance and necessity of tax imposition traced from its historical background to present situations. The unveiling of the salient features of taxation is a matter of necessity. The requirement of utmost transparency and accountability must be the primordial consideration in promoting sound administrative system. The unending practice of graft and corruption must be dispensed with. This is present by reason of lack of discipline and love for the country. The campaign for theoretical justice, equality and uniformity principle must be taken cognizance in the imposition of taxes. A qualitative interview through the utilization and application of a semi-structured survey questionnaires was employed for a better result and profound understanding about the vital concepts and important parameters of taxation. Taxes represent the financial skeletal system of the government. It also serves as the backbone and fundamental key to economic stability. This research clearly shows the indispensability character of taxation. That taxes are the life-force of the government. In the absence of taxes, the government cannot really exist nor survive without financial resources to support its legitimate and necessary expenses. The realization and materialization of this study will greatly benefit the general public to have a deeper understanding on the importance and necessity of the historical and developmental concept of taxation in Philippine history. Keywords: Taxation, History, Imposition, Necessity, Importance and Development.

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This paper seeks to investigate the state of tax collection in a remote island in Cebu Province called Bantayan Island. The researcher finds out that due to lack of tax collectors in the area, the target benchmark fiscal revenue is not met. The research was conducted via a field study in 2018 and was submitted as part of a coursework in local governance in the same year.

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The purpose of this research to study of taxation system, taxpayers, taxation agencies, tax rates, penalties, term and conditions of tax privileges and comparative analysis of taxation systems between Thailand and Philippines. The findings of tax system comparison were the difference of tax collection organization between Thailand and Philippines, however, both countries have the same tax system that are tax baskets, tax regulations, tax benefits. From these findings can be concluded that taxpayers or entity in Thailand has more advantage than Philippines's in tax allowance regulations, personal tax income allowance favoured to taxpayers for lower tax rate. Moreover, the tax rate in Thailand is lower than in Philippines resulting to proprietors or investors could bring these proceeds to expand their business or investment, finally, it will generate economic growth.

Garence Paz

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Syamsiah Badruddin

The focus of this study is on the resolution of objections raised by Taxpayers in the Regional Office of DGT South Jakarta I. The theory used in this study refers to the opinion of Adam Smith in his book Wealth of Nations which states that a good tax collection must fulfill equity and equality requirements, certainty , convenience of payment, and efficiency. This study uses a naturalistic and interpretive qualitative approach that focuses on the process of resolving taxpayers' objections to a tax assessment as a legal effort. Data collection is done through interviews and direct observation on the object of research. The results of interviews and observations prove that the resolution of the objections to the South Jakarta I DGT Regional Office has been carried out in accordance with the provisions of the applicable tax regulations. This was also reinforced by statements made by Taxpayers who filed objections to the Regional Office of DGT South Jakarta I. The settlement of objec...

NGOBI DANCAN

SOSHUM : Jurnal Sosial dan Humaniora

Maria R.U.D. Tambunan

International Journal of Scientific and Management Research

Marecon Viray

This study focused on exploring the knowledge level of awareness and implementation of the Internal Revenue Allotment in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City. It sought to determine the answer 1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents, 2. What is the level of awareness of the respondents towards internal revenue allotment? 3. What are the strategies used by the Barangay Captain in collecting internal revenue allotment and its level of implementation? 4. What is the perception of the respondents on the contribution of the collected Real Property Tax to the operation of Barangay Calamba? The research design used was descriptive, that is by employing percentage distribution and frequency counts in presenting and analyzing the data obtained from a sample of fifty-eight (58) respondents. A validated researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the primary data. The findings on this study revealed there was a barangay development plan; however, budget allocation is the problem obs...

Philippine Studies, vol. 51, no. 1 (2003): 63-95

Luis Alonso-Alvarez

Reconstruction of official data of the Philippine Treasury from 1565 to 1800 kept in the Archivo General de Indias (AGI) casts doubt on the accepted proposition about the fiscal dependence of the Philippines on the Mexican viceroyalty. This argument is supported by analysis of two data sets, the tribute and the Mexican situado or subsidy. Previous researchers have underestimated tribute figures because these did not appear in the tax statistics, and have failed to understand that a large part of the situado was kept in Acapulco. Corrections of tribute and Mexican situado figures suggest a more fiscally independent Philippines than had been previously thought. KEYWORDS: Spanish Philippines; tribute; situado; fiscal independence; Mexican viceroyalty

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Today’s front page, Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Philippines as a global tax leader 

• Joel L. Tan-Torres
• April 7, 2024
• 3 minute read

A perusal of the Asia Pacific Tax Hub (Tax Hub) of the Asian Development Bank presents troves of treasures for tax administrators, taxpayers, practitioners, and researchers. The Tax Hub is a comprehensive online platform of the ADB  that serves as a knowledge hub and resource center for tax-related information and initiatives in the region ( https://www.adb.org/what-we-do/asia-pacific-tax-hub ). This provides such information as tax data and resources, including tax revenue statistics of ADB member countries, a repository for ADB’s publications, research papers, and knowledge products related to taxation, and information on ADB’s technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives in the area of taxation.

There are several papers and research on tax incentives and investments. These references are relevant and necessary for the Philippines’ tax stakeholders. Taxpayers are interested in knowing the state of taxation and investment incentives in their home country as well as the neighboring states to provide inputs to their plans for future expansion or trade.  

A publication of the ADB in January 2024 entitled “Tax Investments and Incentives” provides an analysis of how tax incentives are employed across Asia and the Pacific, looks at their effectiveness, and considers how these can best be used to encourage investment in activities with clear social benefits. ( http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/BRF240006) .

This publication is also a useful tool for government fiscal and tax authorities. 

This provides estimation methodologies to help tax policymakers, analysts, and administrators estimate losses from tax expenditures and incentives.

Another resource available in the Tax Hub is the publication entitled “A Comparative Analysis of Tax Administration in Asia and the Pacific: Seventh Edition.” ( http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS240003-2 ).  This comprehensive reference was published in January 2024 and provides a comparative analysis of the administrative processes and tax performance of tax administrations in 41 economies to highlight reform challenges, benchmarking capabilities and outline opportunities. The Bureau of Internal Revenue is included in this publication. The various processes in tax administration are covered in this reference. There are comparative discussions on the taxpayer registration and identification process, taxpayer services, tax return filing and assessment, tax payment processes, post-filing verification activities, dispute resolution, enforced debt collection, tax crime investigation, and taxpayer segmentation,  Also discussed are the financial resources for tax administration offices, human resources data, and the demographics of the tax offices’ workforce. The publication also scrutinizes the growing digitalization and transformation initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region.

To complement the topic of tax digitalization, there is this blog posting in the Tax Hub entitled “Digitizing Asia’s Tax Agencies.” ( https://blogs.adb.org/blog/digitizing-asia-s-tax-agencies )

This blog dwells on the need for tax administrations to accelerate digitalization and further explore innovative technology solutions. It discusses that “o ver the past two decades, tax authorities have harnessed digital technology to improve their efficiency in collecting taxes and increasing transparency, as well as providing better service through streamlined processes and user-friendly interfaces.”  

In the case of the Philippines, its Tax Computerization Program, which was funded by the World Bank in 1993 for $63 million, was the predecessor of the various digitalization initiatives of the BIR. The most current of such is the Digital Transformation Program contained in Revenue Memorandum Order No. 27-20, providing for the transformation roadmap for the period 2020 to 2030. 

The blog expounds that each tax administration in the region differs in its digital transformation journey. Although there are common overall objectives and standardized phases and endpoints, each transition is different due to a multitude of factors, including the baseline, availability of infrastructure to support a digital transformation, tax administration, and taxpayer capacity.

It also mentions that the key essentials in the digital transformation of the tax office include planning, designing, and executing a digital transformation journey. The BIR has a long history and experience in administering large computerization and now, digital transformation programs. 

BIR Commissioner Romeo “Jun” Lumagui can take the lead in showcasing the successful and best practices in its digital transformation journey for the rest of the Asia-Pacific tax administrations to emulate, and for our taxpaying community to derive the beneficial outcomes.

To be continued

Joel L. Tan-Torres was the former  Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Previously, he was also the Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, Tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. He now has his tax and consultancy practice and can be contacted at [email protected] and his firm JL2T Consultancy.

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Department of Economics

Natural disasters and local government finance - new insights from the philippines.

Delegating tax-and-spend powers to local government risks limiting the ability of local authorities to respond to environmental disasters, according to new research published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization .

Dr Jose Rowell Corpuz (University of Warwick), Professor Joseph Capuno (University of the Philippines Diliman) and Dr Samuel Lordemus (University of Lucerne) looked at 10 years of public finance data from the Philippines both before and after a national emergency in 2013, when Typhoon Haiyan struck the islands with 200mph winds, to explore how local public finances respond to natural disasters.

The researchers also looked for evidence of how central government disaster relief funds and international aid affected local revenue raising and spending on essential services – did the external aid compensate for lower local revenues, or was it genuinely additional to existing resources?

While these questions have been studied in better-off countries, it is believed that this study substantially adds to the analysis of the local fiscal response to natural disasters in a country with more limited financial resources.

The Philippines is in a high-risk typhoon area, and Typhoon Haiyan was one of the strongest ever recorded and caused unprecedented damage as it crossed the country. Official government sources estimate that about 6,300 people died, more than 28,000 were injured and 4 million left homeless.

It displaced communities and affected the regions' infrastructure, roads, hospitals, schools, and public services. The severity of the impact on the areas it ravaged was unanticipated and unprecedented, with its effects felt during and after the disaster.

Using data on local government revenue and spending from before and after Typhoon Haiyan, Dr Corpuz and his co-authors found:

• The typhoon had a small impact on local government revenue raising. In the short term there was a fall in income from taxes and charges on local businesses but these recovered after around two years. This effect was more severe in less-well-off municipalities and highlights the importance of flexible central government support to address economic inequality.
• The typhoon had a small but measurable impact on spending. Local governments spent slightly less on all areas of responsibility except health, housing and labour. They also reduced their debt repayments.
• Local governments which received external aid did not diminish their tax collection efforts and spent more on public services, education, social and economic services, and debt repayments. This result shows that foreign aid has a vital role to play in supporting local government to help citizens in the aftermath of disasters.

Commenting on his research Dr Corpuz said:

“The effects of natural disasters can have a huge impact on a local economy and under decentralisation, local governments are limited in the resources they can mobilise in the aftermath. “Ordinarily, local tax revenue collection provides a higher rate of local government spending over and above central government transfers. This changes after a natural disaster when there are significant losses in revenues particularly from local businesses and economic enterprise. “When a typhoon as powerful as Haiyan affects the generating revenue capacity of local governments, central government transfers and foreign aid are crucial to maintaining public expenditures that benefit its people.”

Specifically, the research evidence suggests:

• Local governments exposed to common nationwide shocks such as Typhoon Haiyan have limited capacity to reallocate or provide additional resources that would address the increased demand for local public spending.
• Lack of strong and responsive financial support from central government leaves local governments to fend for themselves. This situation only escalates the impact of external shocks.
• Central government needs to step in with additional sources of funding for disaster relief and ensure a coordinated effort with other funding sources (such as foreign aid) to effectively target the most vulnerable communities.

Dr Corpuz concludes:

“Although we cannot generalize, the Philippine case is a reminder of natural disasters’ debilitating effect on local governments and vulnerable communities. We hope that our study will inspire many in ensuring a well-coordinated disaster risk management by central and local governments, particularly in settings of decentralised local government finance.”

Read the full research paper: Natural disasters and local government finance: Evidence from Typhoon Haiyan

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Taiwan’s Strongest Earthquake in 25 Years Kills 9 and Injures Hundreds

The magnitude-7.4 quake was followed by more than 200 aftershocks. Dozens of people were trapped. Two buildings in the city of Hualien teetered perilously.

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By Meaghan Tobin ,  Victoria Kim ,  Chris Buckley ,  Mike Ives ,  Siyi Zhao and John Yoon

Reporting from Taipei and Hualien, Taiwan, and from Seoul, South Korea

The first quake was alarming enough — a rumble more powerful than anything felt in Taiwan for a quarter-century, lasting for more than a minute on Wednesday morning, knocking belongings and even whole buildings askew. It was so strong it set off tsunami warnings in Japan, China and the Philippines.

But then, even in a fault-riddled place with long and hard experience with earthquakes, the jolt of aftershock after aftershock was startling, continuing every few minutes throughout the day.

The magnitude-7.4 quake killed nine and injured at least 1,038 others, stretching an expert quake response system that has served as a model in other places. In Hualien County, close to the epicenter, 93 people were stranded as of Thursday morning, including dozens of cement factory workers in two rock quarries, according to officials. Forty flights were canceled or delayed. Around 14,000 households were without water, and 1,000 households were without power.

By late Wednesday evening, 201 aftershocks had been reported, many over magnitude 5. With rain expected in the coming days, authorities warned of possible landslides.

Shake intensity

“I was sleeping at home when the shaking started, and it kept shaking and shaking for so long,” said Chen Hsing-yun, a 26-year-old resident of Hualien who was with her 2-year-old child and her parents in a third-story apartment when the quake struck. “After the main earthquake stopped I went downstairs with my baby — but then the tremors kept coming all day.”

Many residents had been at home, getting ready for work and school, when the quake struck. Others were driving on highways or had already set off on early hikes in Taiwan’s national parks ahead of a four-day holiday. After the main quake stopped, people across the island fled on to the streets to assess damaged buildings and quickly text friends and family members reassurances and pictures of broken belongings.

But almost immediately, people felt the stomach-jolting lurch of an aftershock. Taiwan is earthquake-prone, and minor tremors are common, but these continued every few minutes throughout the day. By 3 p.m., there had been 101 subsequent shocks, with at least one tremor of magnitude 6.5 and many over magnitude 5.

Officials said more aftershocks were likely in the next four days and warned residents to avoid visiting the tombs of ancestors, especially in the mountains, this weekend during the holiday, known as Ching Ming, meant to honor them. The forecast called for rain, which could make travel conditions on damaged roads more treacherous.

Although the earthquake will reverberate for a long time because it was so large, a high number of aftershocks is not unheard-of, for a quake of this magnitude, said Yi-Ying Wen, an earthquake expert at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. “We should expect that the size of the aftershocks will slowly get smaller and smaller over the next two weeks.”

The heaviest damage was in Hualien County.

In the city of Hualien, the county seat, rescuers were focused on a brick building with glass windows called the Uranus Building, which had partially collapsed and was leaning heavily to one side. Residents emerged through windows and climbed down ladders, assisted by rescuers.

The fire department said one person in the building had died, while around two dozen others had been evacuated. Late into the night, construction workers used a crane to place hulking concrete blocks around the tilting building to stabilize it. Hotels and shops down the street, including a 7-Eleven convenience store — a constant sight in Taiwan — remained open, even as aftershocks continued to sway the buildings near midnight.

“Hualien has had quite a lot of earthquakes, so many people knew what to do when the earthquake came — stay inside, find a safe structure,” said Lin Chin-Ching, 47, who reopened his beer-and-barbecue restaurant in Hualien after cleaning up broken kitchenware. “We did that.” But, he said, many people’s livelihoods would be hurt.

“My restaurant is so busy because many others are a mess and haven’t cleaned up,” he said. The overarching worry, Mr. Lin added, was the destruction of roads and tunnels, which could devastate a local economy that is highly dependent on tourists. “A lot of buildings need to be inspected for damage that you can’t see. That will take a long time too.”

Rescuers freed dozens of people trapped elsewhere, including six people from one rock quarry on Thursday morning. Three hikers were killed by falling rocks on a trail in Taroko National Park, a popular site famed for a gorge that cuts through mountains that rise steeply from the coast.

The county government opened evacuation areas where people could take shelter, such as high school gymnasiums and athletic fields, as aftershocks continued to roll through the area.

Derik du Plessis, a 44-year-old South African who has lived in Hualien for 17 years, described chaos and panic on the streets after the earthquake as people rushed to pick up their children and check on their houses.

Roads were blocked off, he said, and walls had toppled onto cars. “Right now people seem to have calmed down, but a lot of people are sitting on the road,” he said. “They don’t want to go into the buildings because there are still a lot of tremors.”

Lin Jung, 36, who manages a shop selling sneakers in Hualien, said he had been at home getting ready to take his 16-month-old baby to a medical appointment when the earthquake struck. At first it felt like a series of small shocks, he said, then “suddenly it turned to an intense earthquake shaking up and down.” The glass cover of a ceiling lamp fell and shattered. “All I could do was protect my baby,” he said.

The quake also jolted the island’s west coast, toppling one building in Changhua County entirely. Many rail services were halted as the authorities inspected tracks for damage.

The earthquake struck during the morning commute, shortly before 8 a.m., at a depth of 22 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Taiwan is at the intersection of the Philippine Sea tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate, making it vulnerable to seismic activity. Hualien sits on multiple active faults, and 17 people died in a quake there in 2018.

The earthquake hit Taiwan as many people here were preparing to travel for Tomb Sweeping Day on Thursday, when, across the Chinese-speaking world, people mourn the dead and make offerings at their graves. The holiday weekend would typically see a spike in travel as people visit family across Taiwan.

The authorities were working to restore rail services in Hualien and two-way traffic on the highways in the region, said Wang Guo-cai, the island’s transport minister, at a news conference.

TSMC, the world’s biggest maker of advanced semiconductors, briefly evacuated workers from its factories but said a few hours later they were returning to work. The company said its safety systems were operating normally and that it was still assessing the impact. TSMC’s fabs are clustered along Taiwan’s west coast, away from the epicenter of the earthquake.

All personnel were safe, the company said. Still, chip production is highly precise and even short shutdowns can cost millions of dollars.

Taiwan’s earthquake preparedness has evolved over the past few decades in response to some of the island’s largest and most destructive quakes . In 1999, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people.

That quake, which struck about 90 miles south-southwest of Taipei, was the second-deadliest in the island’s history, according to the U.S.G.S. and the Central Weather Administration. More than 10,000 people were injured and more than 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.

In the years since then, the authorities established an urban search-and-rescue team and opened several emergency medical operation centers, among other measures . And in 2018, after a quake in the eastern coastal city of Hualien killed 17 people and caused several buildings to partially collapse, the government ordered a wave of building inspections .

Taiwan has also been improving its early warning system for earthquakes since the 1980s. And two years ago, it rolled out new building codes that, among other things, require owners of vulnerable buildings to install ad hoc structural reinforcements.

Paul Mozur and Siyi Zhao contributed reporting.

Meaghan Tobin is a technology correspondent for The Times based in Taipei, covering business and tech stories in Asia with a focus on China. More about Meaghan Tobin

Victoria Kim is a reporter based in Seoul and focuses on breaking news coverage across the world. More about Victoria Kim

Chris Buckley , the chief China correspondent for The Times, reports on China and Taiwan from Taipei, focused on politics, social change and security and military issues. More about Chris Buckley

Mike Ives is a reporter for The Times based in Seoul, covering breaking news around the world. More about Mike Ives

Siyi Zhao is a reporter and researcher who covers news in mainland China for The Times in Seoul. More about Siyi Zhao

John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news. More about John Yoon