The Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP) has appealed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to defer the implementation of the mandatory electronic filing, or e-filing, of tax returns by certain kinds of taxpayers.
In its letter to Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, the TMAP claimed there was not enough time for taxpayers to comply with the new requirement to file their tax returns using the eBIR Form given that the regulations requiring the same was issued less than a month before the deadline for the filing of tax returns on April 15.
Under Revenue Regulations 5-2015, Henares added certain kinds of taxpayers to the list of those required to file their tax returns electronically.
The additional taxpayers required to use the eBIR Form facility include accredited importers and customs brokers and prospective importers and customs brokers; accredited printers of principal and supplementary receipts/invoices; one-time transaction taxpayers; those who shall file a “No Payment” return; government-owned and -controlled corporations; and cooperatives registered with the National Electrification Administration and the Local Water Utilities Administration.
The TMAP said that, while it supports the BIR’s efforts to fully automate the filing of tax returns, the lack of time for taxpayers to learn and prepare their electronic submissions could expose them to hefty fines.
The new regulations impose a penalty of P1,000 per return and a surcharge of 25 percent of the tax due for failure of the covered taxpayers to comply in full with the e-filing mandate. The TMAP also said that some taxpayers have encountered delays or technical issues in enrolling into the eBIR Form facility, which should first be addressed by the BIR before the full implementation of the e-filing requirement.
The TMAP proposed that the mandatory e-filing requirement be deferred until after April 15, 2015, or to make such requirement as merely optional to give way for a gradual full implementation.