Deadline for tax filing today

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is bracing today for the large influx of individual and business taxpayers for the last day of filing of the 2017 income tax returns (ITRs).

The deadline will not be extended beyond the 5 p.m. office hours and late filers will be slapped the usual fines of 25 percent on the tax due, plus the 20 percent interest.

BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay instructed authorized agent banks (AABs) and revenue collection officers not to accept late ITR, unless it is stamped “late filing” and the corresponding penalties are computed and reflected in the return.

An individual taxpayer is allowed to pay his income tax liability in two equal installments with the first payment upon the filing of ITR and the balance on or before July

16, 2018.

Taxpayers with “no payment” are required to file their returns electronically, using the eBIR Forms available at tax filing centers or at any Internet cafe with capability to download the forms.

Senior citizens may file their returns manually.

Taxpayers are reminded to compute the tax liabilities based on the old rate and schedule and not under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) which will be applied when taxpayers report their 2018 earnings next year.

A salaried worker need not file a return if his income does not exceed his personal and additional exemptions whic are 150,000 and 125,000 for each dependent child but not exceeding four.

Inflation warning Meanwhile, a progressive solon warned yesterday the government against railroading the passage of its Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion package 2 (TRAIN 2), saying that it would further spark inflation.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate cautioned that the 4.3 percent inflation rate in March due to higher prices of food, beverages, tobacco and utilities will most likely increase even more due to the harsh effects of TRAIN 1 and with the upcoming TRAIN 2.

“This is truly unfortunate as it is deplorable considering that majority of consumers’ salaries are below minimum wage and the pittance that the Duterte administration gives through subsidy is hardly enough to tie them down, even it reaches them at all,” he said in a statement.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), food prices alone rose 5.7 percent in March, from 4.8 percent in February and 3.1 percent in March last year.

“This is just the beginning of the harsh effects of TRAIN 1, and, with the coming of TRAIN 2 that will lower the income tax for corporations, the disparity between the rich and the poor would terribly increase,” Zarate said.

In December last year, President Duterte signed into law package 1A of the TRAIN law under Republic Act 10963 which took effect on January 1. It slashed and restructured personal income tax rates, but jacked up or slapped new taxes ob consumption of oil, cigarettes, sugary drinks, and vehicles.

Before the enactment of TRAIN, there was no excise tax on diesel, kerosene, cooking gas and bunker fuel. (With a report from Charissa M. LuciAtienza)