The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is eyeing to build a national contact center next year for public inquiries as it strives to fully digitalize operations by 2027.

BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. on Wednesday said the government agency is seeking a budget worth P200 million to P300 million to set up the contact center at its main office in Diliman, Quezon City.

He said the contact center will need at least 250 agents and will offer toll-free calls, which will especially benefit residents in the provinces.

Based on a BIR survey, Lumagui said more than half of its transactions can be done through phones.

"This will be very helpful to rural residents as some of them have to cross the sea or travel to-and-fro for 12 hours just to reach the BIR office and inquire," he told DAILY TRIBUNE on its online show Straight Talk.

Lumagui said the BIR has been struggling with answering calls from the public due to lean manpower.

"Currently, our agents have to deal with both walk-in visitors at the BIR offices and the phone callers. A labor force of 250 is small compared to 1,000 of government agencies in other countries," he said.

The BIR also uses a chatbot named Revie to answer public inquiries and complaints related to the non-issuance of receipts by commercial establishments or unscrupulous BIR agents.

Lumagui replied to this when asked about anti-corruption measures against some BIR agents who extort money from taxpayers for minor differences in paid amounts or slight delays in payments.

"This is an avenue that helps the BIR ensure its integrity. If records show that the taxpayer has been fulfilling his or her duties over the years, there should be no room for negotiations with agents that signal corruption," he said.

"Confusion sometimes arises from mixed filing of documents by taxpayers who submitted using manual and electronic methods. Sometimes, bank transfers are also late," Lumagui added.

To accelerate Filipinos' shift to digital tax services, the BIR has been operating e-lounges at district offices.

The Department of Finance announced last December that the BIR has been carrying out 16 digitalization projects consisting of pilot and completed projects. The BIR aims to complete a total of 27 digitalization projects.

The current digital services include online registration and update system, electronic filing and payment, electronic forms and audited financial statements, and electronic one-time transaction system (eONETT).

Lumagui said over 500,000 Filipinos have received their digital TINs and that 85 percent of all payments have been made electronically.

Through eONETT, which eases the filing of documents and monitoring of taxes related to the sale of real property, donations, and estates, the BIR collected P4.79 billion and posted 36,000 related transactions.

Higher Target

Lumagui said he is confident the BIR will hit its tax collection target for this year at P3.23 trillion. Last year, the BIR collected P2.86 trillion, surpassing the target of P2.85 trillion for 2024 and the P2.52 trillion in 2023. The year-ago level was the first time the BIR reached its target after 20 years.

The Marcos administration aims to collect a total of P6.326 trillion in government funds this year. Lumagui said the BIR will strive to fill 70 percent of the total target.

He said this will be partly driven by intensified information activities on digital services and investigations against illegal tobacco manufacturers.

"Some of them have been evading excise tax by appearing as locators in the country's economic zones but are selling products domestically. The law excludes firms from such tax if they produce tobacco for exports," Lumagui said.