Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. on Friday tendered his courtesy resignation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after the government's chief executive said the government must be realigned with people's expectations.
Lumagui shared this through a post in his personal Facebook account on Friday.
"I fully support the call of President Marcos for accountability in public service," he said.
"As such, I am tendering my courtesy resignation as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in order to give the Chief Executive a freehand in evaluating my performance in pursuit of further improving public service under his Administration," Lumagui continued.
The Malacañan Palace has yet to announce whether Marcos accepts or rejects his courtesy resignation.
While Lumagui is waiting for a decision from the Palace, he also used his courtesy resignation letter to thank Marcos for choosing him to lead the BIR.
Lumagui also said he is praying that the Marcos administration will be able to raise Filipinos' quality of living.
Lumagui was appointed by Marcos as BIR chief on 15 November 2022.
During the BIR's National Tax Campaign Kick-off 2025 in February, Marcos lauded the BIR for surpassing its tax collection for 2024.
"I am pleased and proud to announce that the Bureau of Internal Revenue met its collection target for the first time in 20 years," he said.
"I know that you have heard that before but we choose to repeat it because it is a very big achievement," Marcos continued.
The BIR collected P2.86 trillion last year, which also surpassed the target of P2.85 trillion for 2024 and the P2.52 trillion in 2023.
Under his leadership, Lumagui said the BIR has achieved a 97 percent digitalization rate after launching electronic tools for faster taxpayer registration and monitoring.
He also reported that the BIR filed over 250 tax evasion cases in 2023 alone, reflecting tax liabilities worth over P18 billion.
In an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, Lumagui said the BIR plans to build a national contact center where agents can answer public inquiries immediately and process reports on any concerns or problems quickly. He said the BIR is looking to build the center as soon as possible or next year when the budget for this project becomes available.
To boost tax revenues for implementing national projects, Asian Consulting Group (ACG) founder and chief executive officer Mon Abrea said the BIR must aim to identify at least 100 of the biggest tax evaders in the country and hold them accountable.
"Ninety-seven percent of our tax collection is still voluntary," Abrea said. "Politicians are living in big houses and own big SUVs. The amounts of their assets are so much bigger compared to the salaries they are receiving."
With an intensified crackdown on big-time tax evaders, Abrea said the BIR should be able to boost tax collection to P10 trillion or higher, above its P2.86 trillion collection last year.
"Vietnam collected almost P20 trillion, yet the Philippines is a bigger nation," he said.