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THE
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) expects thousands of
taxpayers to troop to BIR offices and the various
authorized agent banks (AABs) to file their income tax
returns (ITRs) and pay the correct tax dues today, even
as the bureau warned late tax filers of stiff penalties
awaiting them for not filing promptly.
“Our
appeal today to all taxpayers to file their ITRs also
includes our appeal to them to pay their business taxes
correctly and promptly on a year-round basis,” BIR
Commissioner Lilian B. Hefti said on Monday.
“With
the taxpayers in our mind today, our endeavor to put
into action a national tax administration reform
program, which is of immense importance to the bureau,
will be made a joint undertaking between them and
us, as tax collection has always been and will always be
a responsibility of enormous challenge involving all of
us,” Hefti said.
Hefti
earlier directed all top revenue officials of the Large
Taxpayers Group and the Operations Group to maximize
their tax information campaign efforts to reach out to
all taxpayers across the country in a bid to meet this
year’s tax target of P845 billion or 19 percent more
than last year’s goal.
For this
year, the BIR has lined up flagship programs to improve
and simplify tax administration, all intended to
increase tax collections and improve taxpayers services.
Among these are a computer-assisted audit program,
intensified enforcement activities through tax mapping
operations, close monitoring of withholding taxes,
strict monitoring of account receivables, nationwide
computerization of the revenue district officers,
enhancing Third Party Information (TPI), intensified
implementation of the RATE (Run After Tax Evaders)
program, and continued implementation of the “Premyo sa
Resibo” (PSR) project, among others.
The BIR
has time and again addressed issues and problems to the
improve filing and payment system in order to do away
with numerous complaints from taxpayers against a number
of AABs such as nonacceptance of tax payments made
over-the-counter (OTC); limiting the number of taxpayers
being serviced; nonacceptance of payments from
nondepositors, etc. To do this, the BIR provided new
float period for all AABs to apply, and this depends on
the number of transactions received and processed by the
bank, whether made OTC or through electronic filing and
payment system (EFPS). “We are confident this year that
the AABs will be more cooperative in accommodating
taxfilers by accepting and processing income tax returns
filed with them by taxpayers, whether client or
nonclient,” Deputy Commissioner Nelson M. Aspe said as
he disclosed that all AABs and their branches are open
until 5 p.m. Tuesday to receive tax payments.
“We hope
that taxpayers today will not again swamp other banks
that may cause undue inconvenience to the public in
general and affect the collection of taxes of the BIR,”
Aspe said. |
