TAXES AGAIN!

I have nothing against the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) filling tax evasion charges against known personalities.

If Richard Gomez did not file any Income Tax Return for the past years, the he should be prosecuted. His lousy excuse that he was earning for those years is nothing but a stupid excuse. If Regine Velasquez failed to declare her additional Three Million Pesos as a product endorser, then by all means, let her pay the appropriate tax. And if fraud was used to conceal their true income, then they should be criminally prosecuted.

It is an abomination for actors and actresses not to pay their income tax properly. Abomination - - because for an ordinary working class like me, every inch of what I earned is already withheld for tax purposes. For the record, I paid P23,000.00 plus for my income tax last year. It might be small compared to others, but for a working student like me, that amount would mean a lot.

Actors and Actresses are different, however, they could claim numerous tax deductions. Tax deductions are those expenses you made relative to the practice of your profession which you could deduct from your gross income, thereby decreasing your taxable income. For example, my aunt who is a professor in Chemistry may not claim tax deductions from her school supplies. However, she could claim tax deductions for her school supplies by her being a researcher/scientist. Actors and actresses are the privilege few, they could claim tax deductions from almost anything!

If an actress will go to a salon to have her hair done and for make-up, she could claim that as tax deduction because looking good is part of her profession. If she visits Drs. Calayan and Belo, she could also claim tax deductions. She could even claim tax deductions from the expenses she incurred when she paid the salaries of her make-up artist, bogy guard and even her alalay.

Thus, by all means, if these personalities are guilty of tax evasion, then the iron fist of the law should be laid against them.

I see a problem, however, with all these attacks made by the BIR against personalities. If it is their intention to run after those who evade the payment of their taxes, then they should not be selective. They should not only run after these showbiz personalities, who are most likely will settle their accounts because they are most likely afraid of the effect of bad publicity against them. They should also pursue those companies who maintained two books, one for the company purposes the other for BIR purposes. The second book, of course, would reflect a lesser income, and in case of those thick-faced capitalist, no income at all.

The BIR should also go against those Senators, Congressmen, Cabinet Members and other government officials who did not declare their true income. In the press conference yesterday, Sec. Purisima of the Department of Finance was caught by surprise when asked by a member of the press if the BIR will also investigate Negros Occidental Representative Iggy Arroyo, brother of the First Gentlemen, for possible tax evasion for not declaring his income under the “Jose Pidal” account. Remember Rep. Arroyo claimed in a hearing before that he is Jose Pidal. Poor Sec. Purisima, he wasn’t able to give any right answer!

So you see, I really have no objections with BIR pursuing Goma and Regine. But if they are really true to their mission, they should also go after those who are more powerful and influential tax evaders. Otherwise, this campaign that they have now will be nothing but a cheap publicity gimmick of a government agency - - an agency deemed to be one of the most corrupt agencies in the country.