By Jun Ramirez
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has allowed hundreds of thousands of individual and business taxpayers enrolled in its electronic filing and payment system (eFPS) to file and pay taxes over-the-counter at authorized agent banks (AABs) without penalty.
This was disclosed Thursday by Quezon City Revenue Regional Director Romulo Aguila Jr. who said BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay has issued Bank Bulletin 2019-04 asking AABs to accept the returns submitted by eFPS taxpayers.
He said the BIR chief came out with the instruction to all accredited banks due to the “intermittent and unavailability” of the eFPS caused by certain technical problems.
The bulletin stated that AABs should accept, via the counter payments, for taxes that should be paid through the eFPS which deadlines fall from March 11 onwards.
AABs were also asked to waive penalties for such old method of filing returns, provided the payments are made before the deadlines, and “until such time that an advisory had been issued declaring the restoration of the eFPS.”