With the goal of making services easy and accessible, Samal marked another chapter in history on March 6, 2023, as City Mayor Al David T. Uy and Atty. Romeo D. Lumagui Jr., Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, signed the Deeds of Usufruct and led the groundbreaking ceremony for the Bureau of Internal Revenue- Samal Satellite Office.
The idea of having the office was initiated by Mayor Uy, who envisioned converging the national agencies' offices on the island so that Samaleños would no longer spend much of their time traveling to other cities to complete transactions.
"... it is also a symbol of progress in the service. Ito talaga ‘yong goal natin, that the frontline services of the government ilapit natin sa tao .Huwag natin silang pahirapan, kase syempre 'yong binabayad na taxes ng mga tao iyon ang nagpapasweldo sa atin... ", Mayor Uy stated as he expressed his gratitude to Commissioner Lumagui, who also willingly supported the endeavor.
Commissioner Lumagui was sympathetic to the idea of bringing the service closer to the people and expressed gratitude to the city government for the laudable initiative.
"Alam din naman natin na karamihan naman sa mga mamamayan natin, sa taxpayers natin, ay gustong magbayad ng tamang buwis, gustong magcomply ngunit nahihirapan lang din sa mga proseso, sa mga pagdadaanan para magrehistro at para magbayad ng mga buwis kaya isa sa mga gusto nating gawin ay mapalapit ang BIR sa lahat ng mga taxpayers, " he added.
The satellite office will soon offer operations such as BIR frontline transactions, which include computation of capital gains tax, real estate tax, and documentary stamp tax; assistance in various Client Support Section (CSS) transactions; and other BIR concerns and queries.
At present, BIR innovates by conducting a 2-day BIR caravan every month that offers services including one-time transaction (ONETT) computation, TIN application, business registration, and others.
Members of the 9th City Council, Department Managers, Regional Director Esmeralda M. Tabule, and Revenue District Officers came to witness the momentous ceremony. (IGACOS-CIO/NBC/RConcepcion)