Taxman, down | as easy as ABC

It’s strange that he looked just the same as I last saw him, calm and composed. Except this time, he rests in solitary peace in a solemn casket.

They say you can tell if a person suffered before he died from how his face looks during the wake. Director Jonas looked good. I bantered with him before about his salt-and-pepper hair. Maybe he was indeed sleeping while looking that way in his car as he was being driven to the office at the crack of dawn last Monday to get an early start, when assassins’ bullets pierced his heart to a halt.

His wife, closely surrounded by their children, narrated in tearful disbelief, as in any eulogy, their last moments together. I am not sure if you agree, but I have often heard from oldies that a person’s true self is how he is at home.

Jonas’ spouse related that there would be nights when they would go hungry waiting for him to come home to have dinner together. Sometimes, Jonas would ask the family to meet him halfway, that is, all the way to the office so they can have dinner nearby and minimize delay. When they do arrive at Jonas’ office in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), he would still not be done with work and would still make them wait as he finished his review and sign-off of documents. He is easily one of the most committed people in public service.

I have personally dealt with Jonas many times, representing clients on tax cases. He would always be analytical of the issues and would stick to the merits, even if that means going back on earlier recommendations of his examiners.

I’d like to tell my readers that Jonas is not alone in the Bureau, in the sense that there are many personalities in the Bureau who are good, professional, competent and fair. I personally dealt with most them. I am not being naïve; these guys may not be perfect. But I am with a firm which, in its 94 years of existence, have always dealt with government above board. I have been in the tax practice for more than 25 years, so I have credibility when I say that in tax cases, completely above board dealings happen, and they happen a lot.

How is that possible, you may ask? You need to know the law. You need to show your good faith. You need to trust in the good faith of the official you are dealing with, including understanding that you are both just trying to do your job well.

I don’t wish to oversimplify as there are some rough roads, such as when the BIR team requires you to produce 100 percent substantiation. In these instances, I remind them not only of the unrealistic crusade of pursuing perfect vouching at the expense of everything else, but more importantly, I ask them to spare some mercy.

They would at times mimic private sector management behavior on revenue targets so they would sometimes set as their target a percentage increase based on the deficiency tax collected from the taxpayer last year. To this I would explain how taxpayers’ compliance improved from last year and what they are really liable for under the law. And again more importantly, I would ask them to spare some mercy.

Yet, some people’s idea to avoid costly compliance is murder. A number have succumbed to such executions over the years, except that in the past two weeks alone, two from the government’s tax collection agencies have suffered this tragedy. Mr. Nestor Valeroso, deputy commissioner of the BIR, said they should not cower as death for anyone, in government or not, is inevitable.

The challenge to the president is to protect the people in government from these executions, even as they take in stride the inherent risk in their jobs. I support the review and implementation of a livable, even decent compensation structure for them, to attract much-needed young talents. We need to take care of them by making government service viable.

I detest the idea given in one focused group discussion that I attended. It says that to increase their salary will just make it more expensive to bribe them. Perhaps, one deputy commissioner’s comment is apt, that the private sector is even more corrupt. It takes two to tango anyway. There, I mentioned the elephant. I will also mention my dream for all pairs to tango to the righteous path. I trust that people will not prefer a soft bed over a good night’s sleep. Call me naïve; I can take it. But I am not the only one.