Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 18) — The Department of Finance has heeded calls to extend the deadline for tax filings and would be finding ways to allow late payments, Senate President Tito Sotto said Wednesday.
Sotto said he called Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to ask the Bureau of Internal Revenue to accept income tax returns beyond the April 15 deadline. “He said he will act on it ASAP,” Sotto said in a message to reporters.
“He (Dominguez) said he is calling a meeting right away to formulate the extension,” Sotto added.
The Finance chief went on self-quarantine after learning that he came in contact with someone who eventually tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Dominguez tested negative for COVID-19.
BIR offices, like all other government agencies and business establishments, have temporarily closed after President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine. Mass transportation has been shut down, while only those working in critical sectors like healthcare, food production, groceries, banks, and media are allowed to report for duty. The shutdown will be in place until April 13, leaving just two days before the payment deadline.
Dominguez earlier said that the agency cannot extend the deadline for income tax returns as it was by law. However, the BIR is looking at how it can accept late tax payments without interest, “subject to certain conditions.”
Employees, the self-employed, and companies usually flock to the BIR’s district offices leading up to the mid-April due date, even if payments are being accepted as early as January. Bureau officials earlier appealed to taxpayers to settle their accounts ahead of the deadline to avoid huge crowds, in keeping with the “social distancing” protocol amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. This involves staying about a meter away from other people to contain the spread of the disease.
The BIR has been promoting e-filing, or using its online portal for tax returns. Payments can also be done through bank transfers and e-wallet transactions through Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, PayMaya, and GCash.
