Henares: e-filing of ITRs to be implemented

DESPITE appeals from a number of taxpayers, industry groups and lawmakers to postpone the electronic filing of income tax returns (ITRs) or defer penalties to be slapped on noncompliance, Revenue Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares remained firm that those covered must do so ahead of the April 15 deadline.

In a text message last Friday, Henares pointed out that the difficulties and problems being cited by critics regarding the implementation of the electronic filing and payment system (eFPS) could not have happened had taxpayers complied early on.

“Those required to file through eFPS have been mandated to file long ago—the large taxpayers, since 2002, while others such as those enjoying incentives and those who participate in government bidding, more than five years ago. Also, accredited importers and brokers have been mandated since day one. It was part of the requirement,” Henares said.

That said, the BIR chief said: “I do not see any problem for them if they have complied when they were required to do so.”

Last March, Henares and Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima issued Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 5-2015 which imposed a fine of P1,000 fine per return on covered taxpayers who fail to submit their returns using eFPS and electronic BIR forms (eBIRForms), as mandated under the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997.

Also, noncompliant taxpayers will be slapped civil penalties equivalent to 25 percent of the tax due to be paid “for filing a return in a manner not in compliance with existing regulations, thus, tantamount to wrong venue filing.”

The BIR’s revenue district offices (RDOs) were likewise ordered to include noncompliant taxpayers in their respective priority audit programs.

Under RR 5-2015, now required to e-file ITRs are accredited tax agents/practitioners and all their client-taxpayers; accredited printers of principal and supplementary receipts/invoices; one-time transaction taxpayers (ONETT); government-owned and/or -controlled corporations; local government units, except barangays, and cooperatives registered with the Local Water Utilities Administration and the National Electrification Administration.

As for complaints and concerns that some taxpayers had been encountering delays or technical issues when enrolling in the eBIRForms facility, Henares explained that “one of the reasons why the system is probably slowing down is because of the downloading of the software.”

In this regard, the BIR chief advised that “aside from downloading eBIRForms from the BIR website, taxpayers can also do so on www.knowyourtaxes.ph.”

The BIR is also providing a limited number of compact disks or CDs containing the offline eBIRForms package in some of its offices, she added.

RR 6-2014 issued last September mandated the use of eBIRForms when filing tax returns. eBIRForm is an application covering 36 BIR forms, such as income tax returns, excise tax forms, value-added tax or VAT forms, withholding tax forms, documentary stamp tax forms, percentage tax forms, ONETT forms, and payment form.

To prioritize the electronic filing process for annual ITRs, the BIR has deferred the electronic submission of seven withholding tax forms.

Under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 15-2015 dated April 1, the seven forms that may be filed manually on or before April 15 are as follow: Form No. 1600 (Monthly Remittance Return of Value-Added Tax and Other Percentage Taxes Withheld); 1601-C (Monthly Remittance Return of Income Taxes Withheld on Compensation); 1601-E (Monthly Remittance Return of Creditable Income Taxes Withheld [Expanded]); and 1601-F (Monthly Remittance Return of Final Income Taxes Withheld).

Also allowed to be filed manually are the following: Form No. 1602 (Monthly Remittance Return of Final Income Taxes Withheld on Interest Paid on Deposits and Yield on Deposits Substitutes/Trusts/Etc.); 1603 (Quarterly Remittance Return of Final Income Taxes Withheld on Fringe Benefits Paid to Employees Other than Rank and File); as well as 1606 (Withholding Tax Remittance Return for Onerous Transfer of Real Property Other than Capital Asset [Including Taxable and Exempt]).

“The [aforementioned] returns may be filed manually, on or before the due date as previously specified through the use of the regular printed forms or the offline eBIRForms, and tax payments made to the concerned authorized agent banks,” the BIR said.

As for no payment returns, these “may be filed in the concerned RDOs provided that receipt of the returns shall be acknowledged through the Mobile Revenue Collection Officers System,” according to the BIR.

Also, the returns filed manually must be re-filed electronically between April 15 and 30, the BIR said.

The penalties to be slapped on filings not made electronically will be waived, but only if the returns have been re-submitted electronically to the BIR’s systems on or before April 30.

Earlier, some groups and legislators asked Henares to consider the plight of taxpayers who may not be ready to file their ITRs electronically.

In a March 30 letter to Henares, the Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP) sought postponement of the full implementation of RR 5-2015, saying that taxpayers “may not have ample time to fully comply with the new requirements given that the regulations were issued less than a month before the April 15 tax-filing deadline.”

TMAP asked the BIR to defer eFPS “until after April 15, or that at the very least make the e-filing requirements optional at this time, but with a gradual phase-in of full implementation.”