The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) employee told me to come back with several documents before the agency would give my business firm access to the forms on its electronic payment portal.
I already submitted the application for the new forms via the BIR’s registration portal, I said. And it was already approved, I told the BIR employee.
The BIR employee said the issue wasn’t the access but that there was another form I needed to apply for.
But why do I need to apply for another form when I’m using the same one to submit and pay for the same tax, I replied to the employee. The employee just said I needed to do it.
I gave up arguing.
After two weeks of preparing the paperwork, I submitted the documents he asked for. The BIR received the documents and told me to come back after five (5) days to get the new certification of registration (COR) updating my company for the new forms. Five (5) days later, when I went to the agency’s office, there was no one there. Come back next week, the security guard at the office gruffly said.
The good news was that the BIR updated my company’s access to the agency’s payment portal so my business could already submit the new forms I was applying for. I only needed to get the new COR which formally would certify that my business was obligated to submit the new forms. A COR is vital whenever the BIR would audit my business.
The BIR has online portals to make it easier for taxpayers like me to register and pay taxes. It benefits the government more than it benefits me and my business. Yet, the agency makes it hard for me and many taxpayers to use the portals as it requires so much paperwork and legwork.
I thought about broadcasting my experience on social media but when I saw a businesswoman posting about a nightmare she had in filing and paying her capital gains tax for a property she sold, I decided to just count my blessings.
The businesswoman was lucky in that her social media post went viral and caught the attention of the BIR commissioner. She met with the BIR leadership who promised to take steps to improve the agency’s systems.
Some people encounter bad experiences with the governments they fall under. Sometimes they via their complaints catch the attention of leaders. Unfortunately, there are many others with stories like mine who don’t.
Being a Philippine citizen doesn’t give me privileges. It just gives me more work to do.
Ellery's Essays 