THE FILING and paying of tax returns are no longer limited to where the business is registered, an official from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) District Office 113-A West revealed.
This, following the institutionalization of the Republic Act 11976 or the Ease of Paying Taxes Act (EOPTA) which was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos on Jan.5, updating the taxation system to ensure fair treatment to all taxpayers.
Datu Yusoph Amad, BIR RDO 113-A West Revenue Officer II, said the new law removes the civil penalty for the wrong venue as stipulated under Section 248 Civil Penalties, wherein there shall be a penalty equivalent to 25% of the amount due in cases of filing/paying other than the authorized commissioner.
“Before the signing, the place and venue of filing and payment should be where the business is registered, say the registration of business is in Matina, the owner shall do the transactions at any authorized agent bank in Matina, whereas in the new Act, it can be done in any authorized agent bank,” he said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Jan. 8.
The act introduced administrative tax reforms including amendment of Sec. 248 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997. The Act excluded item no.2 under the section from the old law.
The removed item stated, “Unless otherwise authorized by the Commissioner, filing a return with an internal revenue officer other than those with whom the return is required to be filed.”
“With the removal of civil penalties for the wrong venue, filing and paying can be done in any authorized agent banks,” Amad added.
Among the law’s salient features is the classification of taxpayers into micro, small, medium, and large with specific gross sales and simplified criteria. It can be noted the old law only provides criteria for “large taxpayers.”
The P500 annual registration fee for every separate or distinct establishment or business, which is paid every year thereafter on or before the last day of January is repealed under EOPTA.
EOPTA also highlights that electronic or manual filing of returns and payment taxes can be made either to the bureau or through an authorized agent bank or authorized tax software provider. It also provided an option to pay internal revenue tax removal to the City or Municipal Treasurer and classified the value-added tax (VAT) refund claims into low, medium, and high-risk.
The minimum quarterly gross receipts for common carrier tax such as jeepneys, public utility buses, taxis, and for-hire cars are revoked under EOPTA.
The law required the bureau to go digital including adopting an automated and integrated system for facilitating basic tax services and setting up an online system for data and information exchange, among others.
RA 11976 shall take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. A copy of the law was uploaded to the Official Gazette on Sunday, Jan. 7.
