Business owners should not pass the responsibilities of filing and paying correct taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, to their accountants, Donnies Alas, president and chief executive officer of Alas-Oplas & Co., said yesterday.

Alas was invited by the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental to talk on managing taxes without evading them at the Sugar Land Hotel in Bacolod City.

“The best to pay taxes correctly without evading them is setting up the company rightfully,” Alas said.

He said a businessman has to know his goals for his company and where it is heading for a more profitable and business situation.

Entrepreneurs have to learn the basics of taxation and not to depend only with their accountants, she also said.

He said understanding the value added tax is learning process and it has to start with the compliance with business requirements, permits, and registration with the BIR.

Business owners must also demand from their accountants the right records, sales, and expenses of a business because it tells if the business is making money or not, Alas said.

“If I am making money, I am more than glad to pay the taxes because taxes are always a component of any business cost,” Alas said.

All businesses really need to comply with payment of correct taxes and if not, there must be an explanation, he said.

Businesses need forward development, not just on record-keeping and accounting but also professional services, and this has to begin with accounting as the proper approach of knowing the business, making money, and taking its future, Alas added. *LTG

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