Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
August 2007
DISCLAIMER
“The views expressed in this report are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ateneo de Manila University”.
Feasibility Study of Info-Sharing Among Selected Gov’t Agencies Page 1 of 27
EPRA Tax Administration Sector
August 2007
Based on
I. Introduction
The study entitled “Tax Evasion Practices in Philippine Estate Tax” has
presented several common tax evasion techniques. The study exposed the procedures for
effectively avoiding tax payments, particularly payments for estate tax. A quantifiable
portion of the population can effectively bypass estate tax payments, and because of this,
there is a need to identify potential estate tax payers and legitimize their property records.
Although it was also noted that estate taxes contribute to only a small portion of total tax
revenue, the same study has stated that the Bureau of Internal Revenue views estate taxes
procedures for an improved estate tax collection will inevitably improve the BIR tax
effort. The analysis of these findings led to several recommendations, one of which is
addressed in this report. The following sections of this report address one
In view of this recommendation, the following are the objectives of this report:
Office, Civil Registry, and Registry of Deeds (under the Land Registration
agencies.
government agencies that can potentially be involved in information sharing for better
methods in collecting estate taxes. The details that follow were gathered through one or a
aforementioned sources.
The depth of the following assessments may be limited by the information that the
The Registry of Deeds under the Land Registration Authority (LRA) was
proposed to deploy and operate a fully functional land registration system developed by
STRADCOM. According to a source, the system was already ready for operation. A
property. The digitized data was integrated into a complete database, enabling authorized
users to perform the necessary queries concerning details of all land registration records.
The database includes a collection of graphical views of land areas in digital format. The
attributes of the land area on display, inclusive of the physical attributes of the land itself
as well registration details are readily accessible through the use of an intuitive graphical
user interface. Modifications in land registration are easily executed by changing the
necessary fields in the database through the said interface. Important paper-based forms
such as titles for land ownership are also available in digital format for proper electronic
the Land Registration Authority Land Titling Computerization BOT Project” dated last
2004, the Land Titling Computerization Project (LTCP), one of several contracted BOT
Registry of Deeds (RRDs) and the central LRA office. The intention of the project was to
microfilm;
According the audit conclusion from the report, the LTCP was “not efficiently and
effectively implemented and both government and public interest are not adequately
The report noted that the implementation of the LTCP project was “adversely
affected by the apparent failure of LRA to decide on the new features necessitating
• The project was undertaken under a BOO contract where only database
facilities and application systems, the costs of which were recovered from
the users, remained property of the proponent. Under this condition, the
• There was no rate of return prescribed for the project. The absence of a
earn unlimited rate of return at the expense of the public. Moreover, the
contract provides for automatic fee adjustment without taking into account
contract
having a high level of computerization that is quite feasible for the proposed information
sharing in the context of estate tax collection. However, the contract for the deployment
and utilization of the said system is under voluntary arbitration for reasons not disclosed
by the source. This has left the LRA operating under previous processes such as paper-
based data collection, archiving and querying. Since the voluntary arbitration issue has
not yet been resolved, it is therefore premature to note that LRA has a high level of
The National Statistics Office (NSO) is continually evolving the automation of its
operational procedures to compensate for the large volumes of data that their offices
utilized mainframe computer was implemented during the execution of the 1990 Census
of Population and Housing. That following year, the stand-alone computers were linked
as local area network connections were established across the machines. This was a
necessary step taken by the agency to allow the implementation of Intelligent Character
Recognition (ICR) technology for data input (an automated data input technique where
the data are automatically entered in the computerized records by scanning paper-based
forms). This technology was used to conduct the 2000 Census of Population and
Housing. The effective use of ICR technology necessitates the existence of an organized,
working database maintaining digital records. On that same year, the Civil Registration
project, was launched. According to the estate tax study, the Civil Registry plays a major
role in the potential improvement of estate tax collection procedures since the registry is
the first node of the information link regarding death records. It is in this context where
The Civil Registry regularly sends batches of paper-based records, including those
concerning the deceased, to the NSO, the final node for all statistical data of the state.
Implementation of the CRS prompted NSO to digitize their archived documents, and with
the presence of CRS outlets, civil registry documents coming from local civil registry
The functional system claims to be able to provide the public with their requested
civil registry documents within the same day of request in a matter of hours. Since June
2002, the number of records that have been digitized count to the millions. The services
offered in each of the Census Serbilis Centers (CenSCs) in Metro Manila are available in
the regional satellite outlets, thus indicating a satisfactory level of automation as a result
of computerization. Today, the e-Census websites of the NSO also offer several similar
the CRS makes the Civil Registry Department of the NSO feasible for efficient
In the context of estate tax, records of death contain the relevant fields that may ideally
be shared.
Based on the e-Census web pages, the following table shows fields that may be
- last name
- first name
- middle name
RESIDENCE
verified that NSO is on the 7th year of a 12 year project partnership with Unisys, noting
that the database that their department maintains belongs to Unisys and not to NSO.
However, the Civil Registration Department is open to providing an index file generated
from this database. Before 1997, generated index files can only contain names,
residences, place and date of death of the deceased. After 1997, all fields from the death
the Civil Registry per year, 400,000 of these records correspond to deaths, giving an
Director Hufana has also pointed out that they have been providing index files to
the Philippine Veterans Association (PVAO) on a yearly basis for the cost of 0.875
centavos per record. Other previous requests for sharing index files involve GSIS and
COMELEC.
The current automation of the Civil Registration Department and their previous
arrangements for similar information sharing schemes add to the feasibility of NSO to
involve itself in potential information sharing scheme with BIR in the context of estate
tax collection.
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), like LTO, operates
with both manual and automated processes. A substantial amount of data maintained by
SEC, however, is already in digitized form. The Commission employs the SEC i-Register
Version 2 Facility (Figures 6-7), an enhanced version of the original i-Register facility,
the agency’s web-based company registration system. This takes advantage of online
technologies to provide service to the community. The first version of this online
registration system has been available since four years ago. This implies that a significant
data input system such as SEC i-Register. The said system supports features such as
which are DB-based features where an integrated back-end is vital to its operation. This
presents that the level of computerization of SEC is satisfactory for information sharing
with other government agencies. Depending on the willingness of SEC to share data that
they maintain, the commission may be able to provide company names and relevant
The tax evasion study recommends that the Land Transportation Office (LTO)
can contribute in the suggested information-sharing system for better estate tax collection
by utilizing the data that the agency maintains regarding the legal ownership of vehicles.
Operations of the LTO are a hybrid of both computerized and manual procedures.
As one of the private sector proponents for government information technology projects,
System (DLS). The system that holds information related to estate tax procedures is the
MVRS since it maintains digitized/soft records of registration data. These are data
relevant for the improved estate tax collection since it contains accurate records of
vehicle ownership.
The MVRS is a computerized system under the LTO-IT Project. The system
contains organized records of vehicle data and their respective owners integrated into a
working database. It is a system that allows authorized users to perform routine queries to
the database whenever necessary. Modifications in vehicle registration records are easily
executed by changing the required fields in the database through the user interface.
The study notes that data concerning transfers of vehicle ownership are the
relevant data in the context of estate tax collection. The important fields that are
- Type of vehicle
collecting estate taxes. The suggested scheme is based on the 3rd recommendation of the
abovementioned tax evasion study. However, it is important to note that this proposed
Shown below is the context-diagram for a possible system for information sharing in
Figure 1: Context diagram showing possible data flow for an information-sharing system across
government agencies
The context diagram above (Figure 1) illustrates the general overview of the data
flow for the information-sharing plan across government agencies in the context of estate
tax. As seen in figure 1, the The external data sources are the Civil Registry of the NSO,
Land Transportation Office and Securities and Exchange Commission. The data coming
Inputs of the system will be coming from the agencies enumerated. Data may be
received by the BIR in the form of index files from each agency. These files are a listing
Figure 2: A more detailed level one diagram illustrating the data flow among agencies
1. The NSO (through CRS), LTO and SEC will submit/send/share data to BIR.
2. BIR National Office will cross-match the data received from the other agencies
with their own records. A revised list will be generated, listing those identified to
3. The list of identified entities to pay estate tax is organized according to residence,
4. The regional BIR offices can validate reported deaths with the acquired names to
check for fraudulently reported deaths. Necessary action to pursue the targeted
1. A scoping of NSO (Civil Registration Dept), LTO and SEC reveal the
be met with a resistance to change from the point of view of the agency and
its employees.
V. Conclusions
2. The Land Transportation Office (Motor Vehicle Registration System under the
The readiness of the Registry of Deeds under the LRA to participate in the
feasible for our current government set-up. It suggests one of several ways better
The third recommendation of the Tax Evasion Study states the following:
To implement this, the study suggests that government agencies should regularly
report relevant data to BIR for the purpose of cross-referencing and the proper updating
of existing BIR records pertaining to taxes paid for property transfers, capital gains,
information sharing between the civil registers and the BIR. At present, the relatives of
the deceased would need to apply for a death certificate through the completion of an
application form. In the suggested implementation, the BIR would provide two additional
(brochure/leaflet) containing matters regarding the payment of estate taxes, and a Notice
of Death form. This additional form would ask for relevant data on property and property
transfers necessary to compute applicable taxes. This suggested form would be submitted
along with the regular application form for the death certificate.
a connection between the civil registers and the BIR. This sharing of information will
provide BIR with updated data regarding deceased individuals and the details of their
property and other relevant data that may be gathered in the civil registry level.
The current existence of a Civil Registry System (CRS) that automates several
processes between the civil registries and the NSO makes this information sharing
scheme even more feasible. Since it is already possible to apply for death certificates
online, it would also be possible to provide online applicants with a web page that would
contain the same fields as the proposed Notice of Death form. This implementation will
concerning taxation through the online interface. Any necessary information the
applicants would have to know regarding estate taxes can easily be posted online. It is
possible to construct the web pages in such a way that it is necessary for online applicants
to read the posted information (i.e. an implementation of an "i agree" radio button before
the website reverts to the application for death certificate page). The online version of the
Notice of Death Form can be positioned in the website in such a way that answering it is
part of the necessary process of applying for death certificates. Data gathered this way
will cover individuals who avail of the NSO's online services for document application.
Even if online facilities are available, providing hard copies of this new Notice of
Death form along with any informative sheets should not be neglected since a large
number of the population do not apply for death certificates online. For those who apply
for these documents by traditionally filling up hard-copy forms, the distribution of a hard-
copy Notice of death form is what will work for them. This, as the study points out, will
be collected by the local civil registers and reach the NSO office. The application forms
for the death certificates would ultimately be collected by the NSO for the processing of
the requested documents, while the Notice of Death forms will be with BIR for the
updating of data regarding deceased individuals and the taxes applicable to them.
1. Providing properly constructed Notice of Death forms that would contain fields
necessary for the BIR to gather taxation related data on deceased individuals is a realistic
idea that would enforce information sharing to the level of the civil registers.
2. An online version of the proposed Notice of Death form is recommended. This online
version of the proposed form may be integrated with the existing online facilities for
death certificate application. This would address individuals who avail of these online
services.
3. Online and offline (hard-copy) procedures should both be implemented, since only a
portion of the population avail of the online services and a large part of the population
would still apply for death certificates by filling out and submitting actual paper-based
forms.
information to relatives of the deceased is feasible. This may also be implemented online
by constructing a web page that would oblige online applicants to read the BIR related
VI. Appendix
Available Fields
(SOURCE: www.ecensus.com – mock application for a death certificate)
Relevant:
1. Name
a. Last name
b. First name
c. Middle name
2. Date of Death
a. Month
b. Day
c. Year
3. Place of Death
a. Country
b. Province
c. City/Municipality
4. Registration Date
a. Month
b. Day
c. Year
2. Sex
3. Purpose for Application
a. Claim Benefits/Loan
b. Employment(Abroad)
c. Employment(Local)
d. Passport/Travel
e. School Requirements
f. Others
The following fields are limited only to those relevant to vehicle registration in the
context of the owner, not the car (details such as number of car doors, car color, etc are
omitted)
Available Fields
c. Others
10. Insurer
11. Policy number
12. Expiry date
13. Certificate of cover number
14. Endorsement
15. Date of endorsement
The Securities and Exchange Commission has an online registration facility termed as the
SEC i-Register, which may be accessed through http://iregister.sec.gov.ph/
The existence of such facility indicates the existence of electronically available fields. A
mock registration however, revealed that the online facility only serves as a reservation
system for a company name, along with several company details. Complete company
registrations and related transactions are not met by this web service.
Available Fields
d. Gender
e. Birthdate
i. Month
ii. Day
iii. Year
f. country
g. Province
h. State (for non Philippine residents)
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