The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reminded Sunday individual and corporate taxpayers who availed themselves of the 2007 tax amnesty scheme to submit accurate financial statements to avoid serious consequences in the future.

BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Nelson M. Aspe issued the reminder as the agency is putting up a Management Information System (MIS) for its tax amnesty program.

"We have all the records of these taxpayers and we can easily detect any inaccurate statements by matching them with records they submitted when they applied for amnesty,” Aspe said.

Before flying to Paris on official mission, BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres said the modernization of the amnesty scheme is mandated under Republic Act 9480, or the Tax Amnesty Act, in order for the agency to effectively gather information for the program

The act, which took effect on November 7, 2007, provides for absolute immunity on taxpayers from payment of taxes and from civil, criminal or administrative penalties arising from their failure to pay any and all internal revenue taxes for taxable year 2005 and prior years.

BIR records showed there are around 20,925 amnesty tax returns filed with the BIR from taxpayers of various types such as sole-proprietorship, professional, corporations and even estates.

Tan-Torres pointed out that the same act provides for the appropriation of P400 million from collections of the tax amnesty program for the establishment of an MIS.

He cited a specific provision in the law which states that “for purposes of enhancing revenue administration, revenue collection and policy formulation, the Department of Finance in coordination with the BIR and other concerned government agencies shall institute an Information Management Program (IMP) for the effective use of information declared or obtainable from the tax amnesty returns and the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Networth required to be filed under RA 9480.”

Tan-Torres said the BIR’s tax administration program and strategic map have pinpointed that the MIS can be used in several of the bureau’s program including Taxpayer Lifestyle Check, Run After Tax Evaders, Third Party Matching, Selective Audit, and other projects.