BIR to fine taxpayers who fail to file ITRs electronically

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Internal Revenue will start penalizing taxpayers who are mandatorily required to  electronically file income tax returns (ITRs)  but fail to do so.

Among those required to use the eBIR forms in submitting tax returns are  accredited and prospective importers and brokers; national government agencies; licensed local contractors; recipients of fiscal incentives;  top 5,000 individual taxpayers, corporations with a paid up capital of P10 million and above; procuring government agencies, government bidders, large taxpayers and the top 20,000 private corporations.

Also mandated to file ITRs online are accredited tax practitioners and their clients, accredited printers of receipts, one-time transaction taxpayers, state-owned firms, local government units and cooperatives registered with the National Electrification Administration and Local Water Utilities Administration.

Delinquent taxpayers will be fined P1,000 per return.

Apart from this, civil penalties equivalent to 25 percent of the tax due to be paid shall also be imposed for filing a return in  a manner not in compliance with existing regulations.

Non-compliant taxpayers shall  be included in the Revenue District Offices’ priority audit program, the BIR said.

Upon successful validation of the accomplished tax return, taxpayers will receive a system-generated notification e-mail which acknowledges that the tax return has been successfully filed.

The taxpayer must print the filing reference page generated by the system and the same shall be submitted to the authorized agent banks for the payment of the taxes due thereon.

The BIR mandated the use of the electronic tax payment facility to make it convenient for taxpayers to file their returns anytime and anywhere.  Despite the growing popularity of the internet, only a few are using the electronic filing and payment system or electronic BIR forms.

The government’s main tax collection agency noted that only three percent of taxpayers submitted their payments online last year.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the government “aims to dramatically increase the number of taxpayers filing returns electronically to ease taxpayer experience and in the process encourage more people to pay taxes.”

“E-filing and e-payment are critical to the success of any modern tax administration. In this way, paying taxes will be truly as easy as RFP - register, file, and pay. Through e-filing and e-payment, more people can contribute to building the nation through proper tax contributions,” Purisima said.