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The Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission are intensifying coordination to combat organized crime activities that undermine fair trade, consumer protection, and government revenues
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The agencies are exploring data analytics and blockchain analytics as enforcement tools
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Focus is on rising tax noncompliance in digital commerce, online selling platforms, and emerging payment channels
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Goals include closing enforcement gaps, enhancing intelligence-sharing, and ensuring a level playing field for tax-compliant businesses
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Coordination extended to the Bureau of Customs, Anti-Money Laundering Council, and Department of Trade and Industry
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) are intensifying coordination to combat organized crime activities that undermine fair trade, consumer protection, and government revenues.
To sharpen enforcement, the two agencies said they are exploring advanced data and blockchain analytics tools and broadening coordination with the Bureau of Customs, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, and the Department of Trade and Industry.
BIR commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza and PAOCC executive director Benjamin Acorda Jr. met to map out a coordinated strategy, joined by BIR assistant commissioner James Roldan of the enforcement and advocacy service and PAOCC’s Yeziahara Sanchez.
The discussions focused on tax evasion in online sales and emerging digital payment channels, areas the agencies identified as increasingly exploited by organized criminal actors, the BIR said in a news release.
Mendoza said the initiative is aimed at protecting the integrity of public revenues while leveling the competitive landscape. The combined effort is designed to close enforcement gaps, strengthen intelligence-sharing, and improve joint operational capacity against networks that undercut compliant taxpayers and erode government income.
BIR is intensifying its efforts against online tax evasion by targeting undeclared sales, registration issues, and the non-issuance of receipts. Recently, it closed online sellers with undeclared sales exceeding P211 million and implemented a 1% withholding tax on half of the gross remittances from e-marketplace operators.
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PAOCC serves as the Philippines’ principal high-level body tasked with coordinating, harmonizing, and leading the government’s efforts against organized, syndicate, and transnational crimes. It promotes collaboration among agencies, facilitates intelligence sharing, and orchestrates unified responses to address the dynamic landscape of criminal threats.
