Income tax payment deadline extended to June 14

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 4) — Tax payments for 2019 can still be settled until June 14 without any penalties, the Bureau of Internal Revenue announced over the weekend.

BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III issued Revenue Regulations No. 11-2020 last week, which extended the filing of income tax returns as well as the settlement of other duties for a third time. 

This is two months beyond the original April 15 deadline set by law. The agency had to postpone the due date as it fell right after the first stretch of the COVID-19 lockdown in Luzon, the country’s main business hub.

The fresh reprieve followed President Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement of another two-week extension of the enhanced community quarantine in select areas in the country, including the biggest financial centers — Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Cebu — as the government sought to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

Some 49 other types of tax payments covering quarterly and monthly filings also saw deadlines pushed back. Companies and individual taxpayers can delay these submissions and tax payments without being charged interest or any additional fees. Among those covered are value-added tax collections and refunds, audited financial statements, excise taxes, and tax amnesty returns.

The BIR added that the payment deadlines will again be pushed back by 15 days if the ECQ, set to end May 15, is extended further.

Employees, the self-employed, and companies usually flock to the BIR’s district offices leading up to the due date, even if payments are being accepted as early as January. BIR officials earlier appealed to taxpayers to settle their accounts ahead of the deadline to avoid huge crowds, with the agency encouraging online payments through their partner banks and financial firms.

The Department of Finance earlier estimated the delay in tax payments to lead to a ₱145-billion shortfall in tax collections, which would mean less funds for government at a time when authorities are scrambling to give subsidies and other interventions to soften the impact of COVID-19 to families and the economy.

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The government has resorted to borrowing from foreign sources to fund the budget deficit.