Doctors' group slams BIR ad, demands apology


The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) condemned the tax campaign advertisement of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) that appeared in a newspaper on Sunday, portraying doctors as tax evaders.
 
In a statement aired on GMA News TV's Unang Balita, PMA president Dr. Leo Olarte said the BIR should apologize for the advertisement, which showed a doctor piggybacking on a school teacher, with a tally comparing their income. 
 
"Below the belt 'yun. Ang mga doktor nagbabayad ng kanilang mga buwis. Kung mayroon mang isa o dalawang doktor na hindi nagbabayad ng buwis, hindi 'yan dapat maging katwiraqn na sisirain ang dangal, ang pangalan ng mga doktor sa buong Pilipinas," Olarte said.
 
"Mas maigi kung makapag-apologize ang kinauukulan. 'Yun kasing ginawa ng BIR, gutter language 'yun. Below the belt 'yun. It will not inspire the professionals or doctors to pay their taxes," he added.
 
However, for her part, BIR commissioner Kim Henares said that doctors who claim to be paying the right taxes should not get hurt by the print adverstisement.
 
"Kung nagbabayad man kayo ng tamang buwis, you won't be alluded to," she said in the same interview.
 
She added that the BIR will only apologize once the group will prove that all doctors in the Philippines will pay their correct taxes.
 
"Bakit naman kami mag-a-apologize eh kung ma-prove nila na walang doktor na hindi nagbabayad ng tamang buwis, eh siguro pwede kami mag-apologize," Henares said.
 
She also stressed that the BIR is not only targeting doctors, noting that they have released three versions of the print advertisement with different professionals.
 
Tax drive vs. doctors
 
In April 2013, Nelson Aspe, deputy commissioner for operations of the BIR, said they decided to go after doctors after they noticed that doctors have the lowest income tax filed among other professionals.
 
“Nung nire-evaluate namin ang mga tax filers, sila (doctors) ang mga pinakamababa,” he said without mentioning figures, citing confidentiality.
 
Aspe insisted that issuing receipts is “obligatory” even among businesses and professionals. “The basic statement is that anybody earning... mag-i-issue ng receipts in their services or sales of goods,” he said.
 
Since doctors are known to be a well-paying profession where official receipts are not given to patients, taxes are assumed to be vastly underpaid.
 
“[But] over the years, mababa ang compliance sa pagbibigay ng receipts at eventually pag-declare ng tamang income,” he added.
 
The BIR has even gone to the extent of monitoring hospital clinics and interviewing patients just to go after these doctors. —Amanda Fernandez/KG, GMA News

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