Tax collection in the Cordillera is expected to improve this year with the targeting of the underground businesses to be given focus by the regional Bureau of Internal Revenue.

BIR commissioner Joel Tan Torres in his visit to the city during the week to undertake the tax campaign said that he has given orders to the regional offices to improve their collection.

This year, he said, they will be monitoring the operation of the cargo haulers, accommodation places for tourists, schools and colleges, as well as the small-scale mining industry and the farmers.

Torres said there is a mandatory registration fee of P500 per year for businesses aside from looking into the possibilities that while some businesses are registered, they are not paying the correct taxes.

Graduating students will also not be spared because universities are mandated to pay the documentary stamp tax for each diploma that will be released.

Torres said monitoring will be more technical such as looking into the companies, offices, and agencies where these businesses transact.

“For the farmers and traders, we will look at the big companies where they deliver the agricultural produce and we would already know their taxable income,” he said.

For the small-scale mining industry, the Bangko Sentral is a potential source of information being the agency where gold produced by pocket miners are sold.

It can be remembered that movie stars were subjected to this kind of monitoring which led to the filing of tax evasion cases.

Some celebrities were discovered to have not declared correct income taxes after it was found that they have been contracted by major companies to promote their businesses which earned them additional income.

Torres said, however, that they might be lax with the farmers especially with the advent of El Niño that may affect the produce of the farmers.

The commissioner added that they are expecting an additional 6,000 new personnel from the rationalization program of the agency who will be tapped to improve tax collection.

BIR, he said, was unable to collect its P798 billion target in 2009 with only P750B actual collection for the year.

For 2010, the BIR has a goal of P830B, which the agency hopes to attain by the end of the year because it would affect the service of the government.