Almost 100 percent of annual income tax returns (AITRs) for 2020 were filed online this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) ramped up its digitalization efforts to make tax compliance more convenient and accessible to the public.
The DOF said in a statement the filing of 1,430,470 or 99.5 percent of the AITRs were done online through the BIR’s electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) and electronic BIR Forms System.
In a report to Carlos Dominguez, DOF secretary, the BIR said from January 1 up to the April 15 deadline for the filing of the 2020 AITRs this year, only 7,139 were filed manually.
Dominguez commended the BIR for ensuring the smooth and glitch-free electronic filing and payment of ITRs this year, which encouraged more taxpayers to fulfill their civic duty of paying taxes even amid the mobility restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arnel Guballa, BIR deputy commissioner, said the 99.5 percent of e-filed AITRs this year rose from the 90 percent recorded in 2020, then translating to 1,314,672 that were e-filed.
“We are starting to reap the benefits of our continued digitalization efforts that aim to make tax compliance easier, more accessible, and more convenient for the public,” Guballa said.
As for electronic tax payments, Guballa said preliminary data show that BIR collections through e-channels amounted to P573 billion, which represents 83 percent of the total collection of P689 billion as of April 30.
The number of e-payers, or the taxpayers who paid their internal revenue taxes through the eFPS, Electronic Fund Transfer Instructions System and other e-payment channels implemented by the BIR, totaled 496,590 as of April 30 this year.
“Preliminary data show that from January 1 to April 30, e-payers accounted for 24 percent of the total number of taxpayers,” Guballa said.
To further step up its digital transformation, the BIR plans to complete the rollout of its Internal Revenue Integrated System, which will serve as the BIR’s central tool and repository to process taxpayers’ information, by the fourth quarter of 2021. – Angela Celis
