The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has encouraged the public to pay their bills online due to the COVID-19 threat as the deadline of filing Income tax Return (ITR) on April 15 draws closer.
“We are making the campaign now to please file early, because as of now, there are no pronouncement of any extension the deadline stays at April 15, 2020,” BIR Collection Service Head Revenue Exec. Asst. Rosario Padilla said.
“For now we encourage people to make use of online facilities, so we don’t see any need to extend as of the moment; but of course, kung kinakailangan talaga (when needed)…not extending…it will be considered,” she added.
The BIR said the public only needs to visit www.bir.gov.ph and download the offline e-BIR forms package version 7.6 to file their annual ITR. It added that e-payment channels and ATM or debit cards of Landbank and DBP can be used for payment.
All BIR Revenue District Offices with tax filing assistance centers are open starting March 28 to address the concerns of the public on electronic filing and payment.
Meanwhile, amid the POGO issue, the Department of Finance (DOF) urged the cooperation with Congress in amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act and Bank Secrecy Law to eliminate tax evasion.
“What we are hoping to do now is to really advocate for the passage of the law that will amend AMLC rules, so we have stronger monitoring and enforcement tools,” DOF ASec. Tony Lambino said.
“Nung nireport ni Sec. Dominguez kay Pangulong Duterte (when Sec. Dominguez reported it to President Duterte), the president agreed that these are priority measures,” he added. – Report from Naomi Tiburcio
