Tax Academy courses mandatory for hiring, promotion of employees in BIR, BOC, BLGF starting 2021
Relevant training courses offered by the Philippine Tax Academy (PTA) will become mandatory for the hiring or promotion of employees in the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR), of Customs (BOC) and of Local Government Finance (BLGF) starting next year, the Department of Finance (DOF) has said.
Such basic PTA courses will also become a requirement starting next year for the appointment of treasurers in local government units (LGUs).
Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said passing these basic Tax Academy courses are mandatory under Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) 10143, which established the PTA, and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
Covered by this requirement are all existing employees of the BIR, BOC and BLGF before they can be promoted; all applicants, whether contractual or permanent, before they can be hired in these bureaus; and all local treasurers before they can be appointed, Beltran said in his report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Section 4 of the PTA law states that: “All existing officials and personnel of the BIR, the BOC and the BLGF shall be required to undergo the re-tooling and enhancement seminars and training programs to be conducted by the PTA. All applicants to the said bureaus shall also be required to pass the basic courses before they can be hired whether on contractual or permanent status.”
Even before the full implementation of this provision, Beltran has been reporting during the Executive Committee (Execom) meetings of the DOF on the PTA’s regular induction and orientation courses for new employees of the BIR, BOC and BLGF.
These courses were migrated online during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure that the Academy can continue to offer them even with community quarantine measures in place, said Beltran, who oversees the DOF’s implementation of the PTA law.
Earlier, President Duterte approved the appointment of Secretary Dominguez as ex-officio chairman of the PTA Governing Board.
The appointments of BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay and BOC Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero as ex-officio vice-chairpersons of the PTA Governing Board were likewise approved by the President.
Under RA 10143, the PTA “shall serve as a learning institution for tax collectors and administrators of the government and selected applicants from the private sector.”
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