BIR urges taxpayers to beat ITR filing deadline today

MANILA, Philippines - Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares reminded individual taxpayers and corporations that they have only until today to file their 2013 income tax returns or face penalties and interest charges.

Henares yesterday said the April 15 deadline stays and the bureau is not keen on extending it.

“We’ve been urging the public to pay their taxes on time to avoid penalties,” Henares said.

Penalties for late filing include 20 percent interest per annum, 25 percent surcharge and compromise fee dependent on one’s tax due.

Income tax is a tax on a person’s income arising from property, practice of profession, conduct of trade or business less the deductions and/or personal and additional exemptions, if any, authorized for such types of income.

Taxpayers also have the option to either file income tax return (ITR) manually through pre-printed forms at the BIR website.  

These interactive forms would automatically compute the taxes due as well as validate information provided by taxpayers. Once validated, the ITR forms could be printed and filed with an authorized agent bank or Revenue Collection Officer.

The BIR aims to collect P1.47 trillion this year, 16.8 percent higher than the P1.25 trillion collected in 2013 on the back of enhanced audit and enforcement capabilities.