The Philippine Tax Academy (PTA) will be launched on Tuesday with an orientation workshop for 52 local treasurers and 130 newly hired government employees to review the government’s revenue-generation functions, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
DOF Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said the participants in the inaugural workshop include 30 new hires from the DOF, 30 employees from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, 31 from the Bureau of Customs, 39 from the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) and 52 local treasurers.
The PTA’s orientation will cover the DOF’s role in government resource mobilization; a briefing on the importance of building the capacity of tax administrators to help boost tax-collection efficiency; the Philippine Development Plan for 2017-2022 and the AmBisyon Natin 2040; an overview of the country’s tax policies and administration and the challenges and opportunities facing tax administrators; and the curriculum development framework for the academy, among others, according to Beltran’s report to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.
He also reported during a recent DOF Executive Committee meeting that the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations has already approved 14 executive positions for the PTA, from the president down to the academy’s business development specialist.
The PTA has also applied for accreditation with the Professional Regulation Commission as a Continuing Professional Development provider for Certified Public Accountants.
“This will also supplement the preparation of the launching program, and roll out,” Beltran said.
A technical working group for the PTA was also created to recommend programs, projects, and activities for the academy this year.
The DOF’s legal group, Beltran said, is now reviewing the PTA’s implementing rules and regulations.
Meanwhile, the DOF, in partnership with the University of the Philippines School of Economics (DOF-UPSE), is offering a public finance postgraduate scholarship program to “produce high-quality graduates, and provide the DOF its next generation of public finance managers,” Beltran said.
The DOF-UPSE scholarship is a new program under the PTA. Eligible DOF employees for the program will undertake a Master in Economics or Master in Development Economics studies for four semesters of full time-study leave with pay.
Screening and selection, admission and processing will be done from May to June 2018, with classes starting in August to December 2018 for the first semester, with the second semester commencing in January 2019, and scheduled to end in May 2019. The third semester will be from August to December 2019, and the last semester from January to May 2020.
Last year the DOF bared plans to open regional campuses of the PTA in rural areas following a request by the BLGF for the conversion of its Northern Mindanao regional office in Cagayan de Oro City into a PTA Center.
Beltran said the DOF is also planning to open regional PTA campuses in the Visayas and Mindanao, with the main site in Region 10, in line with the BLGF’s request.