Milwida M. Guevara Timing is everything. It is important in comedy, communications, buying stocks, and in nurturing a relationship, among the many others. Ecclesiastes 3:4 proclaims that there is a time for mourning and a time for dancing. So, the BIR announcement requiring all online producers and traders to register their businesses and pay taxes couldn’t have come in a worse time. Thanks to on-line deliveries, many of us who have been unable to shop for necessities have been able to get by. The producers and the delivery guys of products which are available online are considered part of the frontliners. They braved the risks from the infection to be able to earn a living, and at the same time, help those who remain in quarantine and in isolation. We have survived through their initiative—procuring food, groceries, and household supplies while we remained protected in the safety of our homes. The least we could do is to thank them, give them a generous gratuity, and wish them well. And now, instead of getting a thank you note from government, they are given a deadline to register their business with BIR, pay taxes for all their transactions, including those that were past, on before July 31, 2020, lest they be meted penalties under the law. If this is not bad timing, we do not know what is. People lost their jobs and incomes, and tried to survive through online transactions. We should have affirmed their efforts to help themselves, and not to be a burden to government. Certainly, we have a responsibility to share in the financing of public goods and services. I have always advocated that taxes are not just our responsibility. They are our payment for goods and services which are provided by government. But paying taxes is a social contract. We give government a part of what we earn in return for the delivery of a service. My students would always argue that they grudgingly pay taxes because they hardly get an equivalent form of public service in return. To minimize arguments especially about the non-delivery of public services, and paying for services of public officials whom we can do without, I conveniently point out that taxes finance public goods that we all benefit from, such as traffic lights, and the construction of bridges and roads. Since we are users of these public goods and services, it is but right that we should pay for our consumption, i.e. share in the costs of their production, by paying our taxes. Taxes that finance public schools, public hospitals and welfare institutions, are part of our moral duty to help those who have less in life and to share our fortune with those in the margin. Unfortunately, the BIR has not gone out of its traditional role of policemen and a powerful autocrat, and, enforces tax payments through the creation of fear. Very early in the 90s, tax administration organizations in developed economies have started transforming their culture into a corporate one and treated taxpayers as customers and clients. The core of this transformation is the simplification of processes, and providing information and services to their clients. It would have made a great difference, if the BIR started with establishing a relationship with taxpayers towards building a culture of trust. A tax information drive could have been started followed by an effort to help e-commerce producers to register. Perhaps many of them do not have a TIN or do not even know that profit is the basis of the income tax, i.e. they can deduct all their business expenses to estimate their net income. They need to understand that if their annual net profit is less than P250, 000, or P2.5 million gross sales (assuming a 10% profit margin), they do not need to pay an income tax. They need an introduction to the VAT, and be informed that if their annual sales are P3.0 million or less, they are VAT exempt. But, it is never too late. The BIR can establish a good relationship with them this year and usher them to become part of its honest clients next year. Unless of course, BIR is comfortable with its current image, and would rather be feared rather than respected. [email protected]