By Jun Ramirez The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said yesterday thousands of employees of closed small businesses are not likely to get salary subsidy because their employers were not tax compliant, or did not remit the employees' monthly contribution to the Social Security System (SSS). Bureau of Internal Revenue (MANILA BULLETIN) BIR Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel Guballa said non-compliance does not only concern failure to remit withheld taxes, but also not reporting the number of tax-exempt workers whose yearly pay is below the exemption threshold of P250,000. He stressed that availment of financial support is limited to employees of business entities complying with BIR and SSS rules and regulations. "Employees of erring companies are not eligible for inclusion in the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program of the Department of Finance (DOF)," Guballa added. Based on the data collated by the DOF roughly 3.5 million employees from this sector can claim financial assistance for not getting paid for March and April due to closure of businesses caused by Corona Virus-19. Each beneficiary will get between P5,000 and P8,000 out of the P51 billion budget of the SBWS with the higher dole-out going to workers based in Metro Manila and other key cities. Employers have until the end of the month to submit the wage subsidy applications, first with the BIR at www.bir.gov.ph and later to the state-owned pension firm at www.sss.gov.ph. The SSS will release the cash aid directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries, and issue proper notification to others who have no bank records.