Cebu accountants confer ‘Visionary Leader Award’ to Lumagui

The Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) – Cebu Chapter at its recently concluded 12th Cebu Summit conferred the “Visionary Leader Award” to Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. in recognition of the good governance and reform programs implemented by the bureau under his stewardship.

“I am grateful to be the recipient of this ‘Visionary Leader Award’ from PICPA – Cebu. This award gives credence to the Good Governance programs we have started, developed, and enforced in the BIR,” said Lumagui.

“Rest assured, the BIR is the private sector’s partner in nation-building. We are at your service.”

According to former BIR Commissioner Joel Tan-Torres, Lumagui’s leadership in steering the BIR through a period of rapid modernization in tax administration is a “new era” for the Philippine tax community.

In his latest column, Tan-Torres noted that Philippine taxation has evolved from “carbon copy invoices, paper ledgers, yellow-colored columnar pads, and tedious manual processing of tax documents” to an ecosystem of “online platforms, cloud-based systems, digital interactions, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted tax enforcement and compliance tools.”

He credited the BIR under Lumagui for laying the groundwork for full-scale digital transformation through programs such as the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS), the Online Registration and Update System (ORUS), the Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System (EIS), and AI-enabled monitoring of suspicious transactions under the Run After Fake Transactions program.

These efforts, explained the former BIR head, are being reinforced by the $400-million BIR Digital Transformation Program funded by the Asian Development Bank, which aims to integrate taxpayer data, automate back-office processes, and expand e-services.

During his term Lumagui also introduced the BIR DX Roadmap 2025–2028, which aligns with the Ease of Paying Taxes Act and the agency’s Aspiration 2028 goal of becoming a highly digital, data-driven, and taxpayer-centric organization. The plan is built on four strategic pillars—strengthening the BIR organization, modernizing its digital backbone, enhancing governance standards, and elevating taxpayer experience—and includes 22 projects designed to boost revenue collection and service delivery.

Tan-Torres pointed out that Commissioner Lumagui “is leading the way for BIR and the tax community in these notable initiatives.”

“He has set a challenge for himself of delivering the digital transformation outcomes by 2028. In setting up this deadline, he has committed to turning over to the next administration a more efficient and taxpayer-service-oriented BIR,”

“For the digitally challenged members of the tax community, it is time right now to start discarding your antiquated mindsets and tools and go Tax Tech.”