BIR readies online taxpayer registration system

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) will roll out a new system that will allow new busine­sses to register their operations through the internet instead of going physically to BIR offices.

Internal Revenue Deputy Commissioner Arnel S.D. Guballa told the Inquirer on Wednesday that the BIR has an ongoing project called online registration and update system (Orus) through which all businesses—whether brick-and-mortar or online—could register as taxpayers.

Guballa did not give a timetable to implement Orus, but it is among the BIR’s priority programs and projects for 2020.

Last year, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Orus would be an end-to-end taxpayer and business registration system that could “improve voluntary compliance and reduce compliance cost and, at the same time, improve service delivery and taxpayer experience.”

Last Tuesday, the BIR moved to Sept. 30 the deadline for online businesses to register their operations with the country’s biggest-tax collection agency.

As of Sept. 1, 5,650 online businesses already registered as taxpayers, Guballa told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

The original July 31 registration deadline had been moved to Aug. 31, but since it fell on National Heroes’ Day—a regular national holiday, the country’s biggest tax-collection agency accepted applications until Tuesday, Sept. 1.

But in Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 92-2020 issued by Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay also on Tuesday, the BIR chief noted that there was a surge of registrants in various revenue district offices trying to beat the deadline.

“Considering this and the BIR’s resource constraints at this time of quarantine protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline is further extended to Sept. 30, 2020,” Dulay said.

Dulay assured the public that registration until the end of the month would not be slapped any penalty.

“These taxpayers who have prior transactions subject to taxes are also encouraged to voluntarily declare the same and pay the taxes due, with no penalty for late filing,” Dulay added.