No extension of April 16 deadline for ITR filing – BIR

The Bureau of Internal Revenue on Thursday said that it will not extend beyond April 16 the deadline to file 2017 income tax returns, hence will slap penalties to those who cannot comply.

In a statement, the BIR noted that since the April 15 deadline mandated under the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 or the Tax Code fell on a Sunday, the last day for filing last year’s ITRs was moved to the next working day, April 16, a Monday.

“There will be no extension of the said deadline,” the BIR said.

As such, “tax returns filed and taxes paid after the deadline will be slapped with the corresponding penalties as provided for in the Tax Code,” the BIR warned.

In particular, the penalties include 25-percent surcharge, 12-percent interest per annum, as well as compromise penalty, the BIR noted.

The BIR enjoined taxpayers “to file as early as now to avoid the usual issues and inconvenience experienced during the last day of filing.”

For the 2017 ITRs, the old personal income tax rates of up to 32 percent still apply, as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act went into effect only starting Jan. 1, 2018.

Signed by President Duterte in December last year, Republic Act No. 10963 or the TRAIN Law since Jan. 1 jacked up or slapped new excise taxes on oil, cigarettes, sugary drinks and vehicles, among other goods, to compensate for the restructured personal income tax regime that raised the tax-exempt cap to an annual salary of P250,000.

Under Section 13 of the TRAIN Law, those earning income not exceeding P250,000 for the year starting 2018 would no longer need to file ITRs.

The new personal income tax structure will be applied in filing the 2018 ITRs next year.

The BIR, the country’s biggest revenue agency, is tasked to collect P1.008 trillion in taxes on net income and profits this year.

Taxes collected from personal and corporate income earners will account for about half of the BIR’s P2.039-trillion total collection target for 2018.

Collections from VAT are expected to rise to P457.2 billion this year.

The tax take from excise taxes, meanwhile, was programmed to jump to P309.2 billion.