THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) moved the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) to April 18, as the annual April 15 deadline falls on Good Friday this year.
In a BIR bulletin, the tax collection agency also reminded authorized agent banks (AABs) to extend their banking hours until 5 p.m., from the original cut-off time of 3 p.m. for the April 1 to 18 period.
BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay also asked banks to accept payments on April 2, as two Saturdays before the tax deadline were declared as regular holidays. Araw ng Kagitingan falls on April 9, while Black Saturday is on April 16.
In a separate bulletin, Mr. Dulay reiterated the responsibilities of banks in accepting annual ITRs and payments.
Banks should accept all tax payments made by taxpayers using BIR official printed forms or copies of system-generated filing reference numbers; photocopies of returns or electronically filled tax returns; and downloaded annual ITRs.
Banks should also stamp “Received” on attached forms of specific pages of the ITRs, and ensure portions of the ITR and deposit slips are machine validated.
They should also accept payments made through checks, provided that check tax payments are made payable to the BIR.
Banks are also reminded that they cannot impose penalties on violations committed by taxpayers, as this responsibility falls to the BIR, Mr. Dulay said.
The BIR is targeting to collect P2.4 trillion this year. For the month of April, the BIR’s collection target is P256.89 billion. — Tobias Jared Tomas