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with a report by Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has given taxpayers until June 15 to electronically file their Income Tax Returns (ITR), but this deadline is only for those who will file “no payment” returns.
Speaking to ANC, BIR commissioner Kim Henares said the April 15 deadline for the manual filing for “no payment” ITRs stands, but the bureau will allow its electronic filing to be done until June 15.
“This is only for ‘no payment’ returns. Businesses that have ‘no payment’ returns – we will allow them to file manually, but we will give them time to file online for two months. So by June 15 they should file it online; if they don’t file it, by June 15, that’s when we start to determine whether they will have penalties or not,” Henares said.
Last minute requirement
Last month, BIR issued new revenue regulations that prescribe new requirements for taxpayers for this year’s ITR filing season. This mandates certain types of taxpayers to file their returns using the BIR’s electronic forms or the eBIR forms facility.
Under the new process, taxpayers who fail to comply will be imposed a penalty of PHP1,000 per return plus 25 percent surcharge of the tax due.
Taxpayers included in the group who will be filing using the new eBIR forms are the accredited tax agents or practitioners and all its client-taxpayers, accredited printers of principal and supplementary receipts, government-owned or -controlled corporations, local government units except barangays and cooperatives.
Meanwhile, the new process granted much-needed relief to senior citizens and PWDs, salaried workers with taxes fully withheld by employer and those who opt to file ITRs, even if they are qualified to no longer file them, such as those with personal reasons like foreign travel, promotion and scholarship.
These also include those with “No Payment” returns and One Time Transaction (ONETT) taxpayers.
Under this new rule, taxpayers who fail to comply will be imposed a penalty of P1,000 per return and additional civil penalty of 25 percent of the tax due.
With the new regulation, BIR aims to minimize manual filing which at times causes errors in details, capture tax information in a timely and efficient manner and facilitate the electronic submission of tax returns.
These new rules will already apply in time for the April 15 ITR filing for taxable year 2014.
To enroll, taxpayers will have to access the BIR website at www.bir.gov.ph, click services, click eBIR forms, and click “enroll to e/BIRforms.” Complete the required fields on the enrollment form page then click “submit.”
Individuals enrolling online for themselves shall be automatically approved without submitting any documents to BIR.
Complaints galore
When some taxpayers tried to access the site, however, it’s either “under construction” or “not available.”
A group of taxpayers, the Tax Management Association of the Philippines, is asking the BIR to postpone the full implementation of the eBIR ITR forms this tax filing season.
Rina Manuel, TMAP’s past president, stated few reasons why the implementation of eBIR forms should be deferred or made optional with a gradual phase-in implementation.
“Mukhang hindi pa handa ang system, kulang sa taxpayer education, iba-iba ang sinasabi ng mga RDO (Revenue District Office) nakakalito. ‘Yung readiness ng system ng eBIR facility, under construction ‘yung site,” said Manuel.
Manuel added that there was lack of consultation and adequate time for education of the various stakeholders to the ITR change process, such as the taxpayers, RDOs and accredited banks.
In any case, taxpayers can download the forms from any of the following:
www.knowyourtaxes.ph
www.dof.gov.ph
dropbox using this direct link: http://ftp.pregi.net/bir/ebirforms_package_v4.7.07_ITRv2013.zip
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
