By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The Bureau of Internal Revenue has stepped up its nationwide enforcement campaign, flagging hundreds of businesses and shutting down hundreds of sales-recording machines found to be operating outside tax compliance rules.
In a five-day operation from Aug. 24 to 28, BIR personnel inspected 7,685 establishments and examined 14,806 cash registers and point-of-sale machines, resulting in 842 establishments being flagged and 385 sales machines being sealed.
The enforcement figures formed part of the bureau’s intensified effort to ensure that businesses properly register their sales systems and accurately record transactions subject to taxation.
BIR Commissioner Charlito Mendoza said the campaign is designed not simply to penalize violators but to compel businesses to correct deficiencies and comply with existing tax requirements.
Mendoza described enforcement as primarily a deterrent, saying the agency considers it a positive result when a taxpayer responds to an inspection by correcting violations and bringing its operations into compliance.
The inspection of cash registers and POS machines was among four major enforcement activities undertaken during the BIR’s month-long nationwide campaign.
Other operations focused on fuel testing and marking, the destruction of illicit vape products, and enforcement against illegal cockpit or sabong activities.
The latest inspections highlight the BIR’s continuing push to tighten oversight of businesses and their sales-reporting systems as the agency expands its nationwide tax enforcement operations.
ia/xf
