Director Jon Lindborg of the United States Agency for International Development Philippines Mission assured yesterday that USAID will continue supporting the Nationwide Rollout of Computerized Systems Program of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

He made the assurance at the launching of the NRCS in Revenue District Office (RDO 79) in Dumaguete City , the 24th NRCS supported by the Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines Threshold Program Technical Assistance Project.

Lindborg stressed that as long as the government is good enough to use the taxes properly, this can translate into the construction of school buildings, air and seaports, and highways and social services.

The computerized systems will extend the use of the remaining non-computerized RDOs of the BIR. This will result in the building up of a comprehensive data base that will support the bureau's collection and enforcement efforts, especially in the development of cases against tax evaders under the Run After the Tax Evaders Program.

With the rollout of four computer systems in Dumaguete, the registration, collection, returns processing, and taxpayer accounting will be automated, reducing transaction time for taxpayers.

Linborg also reported the gains achieved by the Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines Threshold Program, among which, are the Ombudsman achieving a 35 percent conviction rate for the last quarter of 2007; and the Revenue Integrity Protection Service of the Department of Finance's filing 21 corruption cases against employees of the BIR and the Bureau of Customs during the same period.

The OMB, RIPS, BIR and BOC all received technical and funding support from the MCA-PTP.

The MCA-PTP is a Philippine government initiative to reduce corruption and improve revenue administration. It is funded through a US$ 20-million grant provided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and administered by the USAID.*RG

back to top