The theft of joy

[Monseratto]

BIR Comissioner Kim Heneres has been harrasing the medical profession lately...

The theft of joy | Columnist

DR. Gatbonton is Editor-in-chief of the Manila Times Publication, HealthNews. She is a board certified internist and endocrinologist, and a past president of the Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism.

To my shock, in the middle of a patient’s visit three weeks ago, I get a frantic knock on the door, from my secretary saying, “The BIR is here and they want to speak to you.”

A team of four charges in with a very official looking Mission Order, which states they have been ordered to stake out my clinic for TWO months, starting immediately. And from that moment, they have not left me or my patients alone. Every person who comes in and out (whether patient or companion or a med-rep) is automatically asked for a receipt. Even if they are still waiting for me and just need to get something to eat or go to the toilet. They list the names and if an HMO, also get their card numbers to verify that they are really HMO patients. They demanded a receipt for two cloistered nuns from St. Claire’s. My secretary said, “Doctor has never charged the religious,” and gestured to their offering on the bench. How do you issue a receipt for 5 dozen eggs?

The first week was horrific. Even if you know you have not done anything wrong, I could not sleep for worrying. (People have told me, if they are fishing, then they will find something.) I felt horribly violated, our collective privacy invaded. One patient asked me, “Doctor, am I obliged to give them my name and contact details?” I told her, “I don’t think so; they are investigating me, not you.” And I teared up in front of her. What must they think; my doctor is doing something wrong because the BIR are outside.

Some of my long standing patients have taken up the cudgels for me, lambasting the BIR people sitting outside my door, inveighing against their intrusion into my life and the inconvenience to theirs as well. A lawyer patient has kindly volunteered his services. I hope I will not need them.

This is how it feels to be raped. They have not charged me with anything; my accountant has submitted to RDO 32 all the books they require. But why are they making me feel like a criminal? I have to grit my teeth and ride this out; I cannot make them go away. When I went out of town for a weekend course, they showed up and asked my secretary to initial their time records. The biggest irony is that my taxes go toward paying their salaries. As a Filipino citizen, I am paying for them to do their job. My only respite from them is Sunday and this long Undas weekend.

One in-patient they have been monitoring did not pay me and left a promissory note which my secretary is holding. And they will probably have to wait forever for her to show up, as will I.

The patient may leave the hospital as long as he has paid his bill, but there is no holding him back, even if he does not pay his doctor a single centavo.

Patients who do pay, automatically assume a doctor is overcharging. Socialized fee for service is the general practice. For most in-patients, physicians charge depending on the room rate. We honor the senior citizen discount. Do we ask the person who cuts and colors our hair for a break?

How many times have my clinic mates and I lamented, “Mayaman ako sa promissory notes.” If I could collect all the money owed me through the years now that would be a sizeable amount to tax. But I do not run after patients who do not pay. The Patient’s Bill of Rights notwithstanding, what about the physician’s right to be paid for services rendered? We tell ourselves: We’re not in this for the money. But the reality is, we cannot eat promissory notes for dinner, nor will it put gas in my car or pay for our children’s education. By experience, less than 1 in 10 will come back and settle the balance. The rest we chalk up to heaven, experience and good karma, trusting that what goes around, comes around.

So in spite of this service and goodwill we doctors extend to our Filipino kababayans, this is how our BIR treats us. In yesterday’s Philippine Star headline, the BIR boasted that they had filed charges against 75 tax evaders to date, and trumpeted the name of a colleague of mine who did not issue a receipt to a poseur patient and has now been charged as a criminal at the DOJ. What did they have to do that for? Why isn’t there a first offense, second offense policy? Why not spare the physician the humiliation?

Down with the BIR harassment of Filipino physicians treating Filipino patients faithfully, selflessly and well!

[s10pao]

BIR Comissioner Kim Heneres has been harrasing the medical profession lately...

The theft of joy | Columnist

maybe they should start with lucio tan first.

[niwde11]

have you been to banawe lately. one supplier hinabol nya pa yung client na bibigyan nya resibo at mahirap na raw mapenalty.

[chua_riwap]

they should go to divisoria mall & baclaran also.
those chinese traders who ply their tardes there, don't issue receipts.

binibigay ba naman, 1/4 sheet of paper lang, at doon nakalagay ang amount ng pinamili mo.

[shadow]

I don't see anything wrong here, we all know doctors don't give receipt when patients don't ask for it, meron pa nga ako doctor napuntahan before iba prof fee pag meron OR sa wala...

Bayaran nila ng tama taxes nila, huwag na sila kumuha ng public sympathy dahil alam ng mga Tao Ang totoo.

[vinj]

Well, they have to start somewhere but i honestly think they are starting at the wrong place by harassing these professionals. They should look deeper into businesses and their own BIR people who have been legally extorting like hell.

* Lucio Tan, if I recall there's even a case where the government ended up owing him money.

[oj88]

I myself can't remember the last time any of our doctors ever handed out a receipt. I know that I'm partly at fault for not asking for them but my rationale here is that, I very much hold them in high regard as they obviously have a very important job. Also, handing out receipts should be something that's part of the transaction routine. As with many merchants, I sometimes have this notion that if they can get away with not giving you a receipt, a good majority will.

Not meaning to condone the practices of the BIR agents, but I think they could've done it with more finesse and professional courtesy.

[shadow]

Ako ngayon kahit sa doctors humihingi na... Have you noticed wala na nagtatanong sa gas stations na kung kailagan pa resibo everytime magbayad na, kasi automated na yun invoice nila.

[freeloader]

I heard she grew up in Binondo, she should start there.

[niky]

I don't see anything wrong here, we all know doctors don't give receipt when patients don't ask for it, meron pa nga ako doctor napuntahan before iba prof fee pag meron OR sa wala...

Bayaran nila ng tama taxes nila, huwag na sila kumuha ng public sympathy dahil alam ng mga Tao Ang totoo.

So honest doctors can't complain?

I know there are some who don't issue receipts, but doctors are by-and-large a giving lot. What the doctor who wrote that said was true... if they collected on all their IOUs, they'd be filthy rich... but they don't.

My aunt has been a cardiologist for over twenty years. There's no dobut she gets paid a lot, but she works hard for her money. Clinics in four different hospitals, and a day that starts at 4am (first clinic opens at 7am, forty kilometers away) and ends at midnight, when she finishes reviewing the ECGs and ultrasounds she brings home. At odd times, she will be called to the emergency room.

She charges what people can pay, and on some check-ups, she doesn't charge regular clients, as courtesy, no matter how rich or poor they are.

In our hospital, it's easy to talk to the doctors to get them to lower their professional fee or accept an IOU. I don't get charged by most of my doctors because they're either family, friends or co-workers. But I know that they don't charge some of their patients, either, when those patients are indigents. Shouldn't they get tax breaks for that? They don't, obviously.

It's good that the BIR is trying to regulate taxes... but do their agents stake out fast food joints 24-7? Do they do the same to machine shops or auto supplies? This is discrimination, pure and simple. To make someone feel like a criminal with up-front surveillance and harrassment with no just cause is crual and unusual punishment.

----

BESIDES, it's an absolute waste of manpower. Much easier to catch tax evaders by setting up a sting operation at a different clinic every week. Send in a ringer (a fake patient... or a real patient, but one who's undercover) to observe if the secretary gives out receipts to the patient, then ask the doctor if they can give a discount if the patient doesn't ask for a receipt.

Simple. Cheap. Will catch you more evaders than simply staking out one office for two months. Obviously the doctor will issue receipts for every patient while your there, idiots.

[Ry_Tower]

Old news, proper implementation is key.

Some do it right, other's don't. But I do agree with the Doctor that it should be done in a positive atmosphere. Afterall, they will follow the law naman as long as the regulation and checking is not ningas-kugon.

[creepy]

I heard she grew up in Binondo, she should start there.

She has.

It's time for doctors, lawyers, dentists to start paying proper taxes (ie income taxes and VAT).

I think people should distinguish between charity work and paying what's due. Charity is voluntary, paying taxes should be obligatory.

[creepy]

So honest doctors can't complain?

I know there are some who don't issue receipts, but doctors are by-and-large a giving lot. What the doctor who wrote that said was true... if they collected on all their IOUs, they'd be filthy rich... but they don't.

My aunt has been a cardiologist for over twenty years. There's no dobut she gets paid a lot, but she works hard for her money. Clinics in four different hospitals, and a day that starts at 4am (first clinic opens at 7am, forty kilometers away) and ends at midnight, when she finishes reviewing the ECGs and ultrasounds she brings home. At odd times, she will be called to the emergency room.

She charges what people can pay, and on some check-ups, she doesn't charge regular clients, as courtesy, no matter how rich or poor they are.

In our hospital, it's easy to talk to the doctors to get them to lower their professional fee or accept an IOU. I don't get charged by most of my doctors because they're either family, friends or co-workers. But I know that they don't charge some of their patients, either, when those patients are indigents. Shouldn't they get tax breaks for that? They don't, obviously.

Charity is charity, tax is tax. So can you tell us how much tax they pay as % of their income? I can look anyone straight in the eye and say I pay 30%. Do they pay anywhere near as much? Do you?

It's good that the BIR is trying to regulate taxes... but do their agents stake out fast food joints 24-7? Do they do the same to machine shops or auto supplies? This is discrimination, pure and simple. To make someone feel like a criminal with up-front surveillance and harrassment with no just cause is crual and unusual punishment.

----

Do you know for a fact that they haven't gone after other shops?

People should just pay what's due and stop this appeal to emotion (because of charity or pro bono services). I hope the BIR goes after all these who don't pay whether they are doctors or not. Step it up!!

[niky]

Charity is charity, tax is tax. So can you tell us how much tax they pay as % of their income? I can look anyone straight in the eye and say I pay 30%. Do they pay anywhere near as much? Do you?

Charitable donations count as tax bonuses. Shouldn't charitable work, too?

Of course I pay 30%. Which has always puzzled me, since I'm not a Filipino citizen. So on top of that 30%, plus SSS, plus Pag-ibig, neither of which I can claim, I pay alien tax.

Do you know for a fact that they haven't gone after other shops?

Of course, they do. They go after businesses and sometimes open up the books. (I've had dealings with the BIR). What they don't do is stake out our storefront and confront every single customer.

People should just pay what's due and stop this appeal to emotion (because of charity or pro bono services). I hope the BIR goes after all these who don't pay whether they are doctors or not. Step it up!!

The question is not whether they go after evaders or not. Obviously they should, but they should do it properly. Staking out a business and telling them you're staking them out is not good surveillance. That's like posting cops at the door of a known drug den and stopping everyone on the way out. You're obviously not going to catch them selling drugs that way.

[uls]

Phil. govt 2012 budget 1.816 trillion pesos

gotta collect more taxes

gotta squeeze more out of the private sector

[CVT]

Pigang-piga na kami.... Sa iba naman sila dumidiskarte....

14.4K:out:

[CoDer]

Maniwala kayo sa BIR.

Walang porma yan sa malalaking negosyante.

[jayofdonpedro]

I myself can't remember the last time any of our doctors ever handed out a receipt. I know that I'm partly at fault for not asking for them but my rationale here is that, I very much hold them in high regard as they obviously have a very important job. Also, handing out receipts should be something that's part of the transaction routine. As with many merchants, I sometimes have this notion that if they can get away with not giving you a receipt, a good majority will.

Not meaning to condone the practices of the BIR agents, but I think they could've done it with more finesse and professional courtesy.

I agree with you on this oj88. Most doctors that I have been too does not give you a receipt unless you ask for it. It's rare that one will issue you a receipt voluntarily. It's common knowledge that doctors and other health professionals are getting away with this practice of not paying their taxes properly. There was even an instance of a lady doctor in Medical City that my mother was seeing regularly for her illness who when I asked for a receipt and a senior citizen discount from her secretary and she told us that the discount was already included on the fee she was regularly paying (I know it wasnt because I noticed that they were charging the same fee to non-senior citizens) and if we are given a receipt, they would have to add the VAT! I was ready to explode and scold them but I stopped myself as I was worried that she would not treat my Mom properly in the future or would drop her as a patient and I don't want that on my conscience. So I agree that it is about time that the BIR goes after them, but I agree that is should be done on a more finesse and professional manner.

[Ry_Tower]

Baka namam kasi may commission pa BIR Agents kays medyo hot sila. jk

[CVT]

That is a possibility bro,- para maging aggressive sila sa pangongolekta ng tax......

14.4K:out: