No filing extension for April 16 income tax deadline, BIR warns public

THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) said that it will not extend the April 16 deadline for the filing of 2017 income tax returns.

“The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is reminding all taxpayers that the deadline for the filing of 2017 Annual Income Tax Returns (ITR) and the payment of the tax due thereon, if any, is April 16, 2018,” the bureau said in a statement.

“There will be no extension of the said deadline. Tax returns filed and taxes paid after the deadline will be slapped with the corresponding penalties as provided for in the Tax Code. Penalties include 25% surcharge, 12% interest per annum, and compromise penalty (according to schedule of penalties.”

“Taxpayers are encouraged to file as early as now to avoid the usual issues and inconvenience experienced during the last day of filing,” the BIR added.

According to BIR Deputy Commissioner Marissa O. Cabreros, returns filed for 2017 will not involve the new rates outlined under Republic Act No. 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which came into effect on Jan. 1.

“The TRAIN law is for 2018. Expected from taxpayers are filing of ITR covering taxable year 2017 applying old income taxes, so the TRAIN law does not yet apply,” she said in a mobile phone message.

The law reduces personal income tax rates, and makes up for the cuts by removing some value-added tax exemptions, and increasing collections from cigarettes, sugar-sweetened beverages, cars, coal, minerals, and sugarsweetened drinks, among others.

In another statement, the BIR said that it signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP) on April 10 to set up tax assistance centers to “provide assistance to taxpayers relative to the filing of their Income Tax Returns.”

TMAP will ensure that “taxpayers’ queries and requests for assistance relating to or involving procedures and policies regarding the filing of income tax returns and payments of taxes are immediately addressed, and taxpayers are provided with the proper advice and assistance in a timely manner.”

Also under the MoA, TMAP acknowledges that it shall not and shall have no authority to accept tax returns for filing with the BIR, as well as tax payments. TMAP understands and agrees that BIR records and tax returns are confidential. Hence, TMAP shall not have access to BIR records and tax returns, except for tax returns that are voluntarily presented to TMAP by the taxpayers themselves for consultation purposes.

The bureau also opened a National Office eFiling Center in Quezon City on April 2 that will likewise assist taxpayers for the BIR’s Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) and the Electronic BIR Forms (eBIRForms).

The National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 mandates the deadline of tax filing to be on April 15, but as it falls on a Sunday this year, the deadline was moved to the next working day. —