BIR reports increase in electronic ITR filing

The number of taxpayers who filed their income tax returns through electronic means further increased as the Bureau of Internal Revenue made it a more convenient way to beat this year’s deadline.

In a statement yesterday, the country’s biggest tax-collection agency said ITRs filed through the electronic BIR Forms (eBIRForms) system rose 22 percent to 797,869 on Jan. 1 to April 16 from 655,484 from Jan. 1 to April 17 last year.

The deadline to file 2017 ITRs was April 16, while the deadline for 2016 ITRs was April 17, 2017.

From April 1 to 16, ITRs filed via eBIRForms climbed 35 percent to 547,545 from 405,574 from April 1 to 17 last year.

The eBIRForms system allows taxpayers as well as accredited tax agents to download an offline software package that they can fill out, then submit to the BIR online.

As for the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS), the number of ITRs filed jumped 44 percent to 144,902 from Jan. 1 to April 16 compared with 100,616 from Jan. 1 to April 17, 2017.

From April 1 to 16, eFPS filers increased 47 percent to 110,884 against 75,127 on April 1 to 17 last year.

“Manual filing was mostly confined to the required attachments to the electronically filed tax returns. This is due to the large number of taxpayers who filed their tax returns online,” the BIR said.

“The filing process is now very convenient, fast and easy with the various e-services made available by the BIR, especially the eFPS and eBIRForms. Numerous work stations were deployed to cater to electronic filers, not to mention the use of at least 120 e-lounges in the revenue district offices,” it added.—BEN DE VERA