(Eagle News)–President Bongbong Marcos has signed the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, the Presidential Communications Office announced.
According to the PCO, the President signed Republic Act No. 11976 on Friday, Jan. 5.
The PCO said the law, which aligns with the government’s eight-point socioeconomic agenda, will modernize and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of tax administration and strengthen taxpayers’ rights.
It introduces amendments to sections of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, aiming for updates to the Philippine taxation system, the PCO said.
Among its salient features are the classification of taxpayers into micro, small, medium and large; electronic or manual filing of returns and payment taxes either to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, through any authorized agent bank or authorized tax software provider; the option to pay internal revenue taxes removal to the City or Municipal Treasurer; the elimination of the distinction between documentation and basis of sales of goods and services; and a classification of value-added tax refund claims into low, medium and high-risk.
RA No. 11976 also imposes a period of 180 days to act on claims for refund of erroneous or illegal tax collection; increases the amount for the mandatory issuance of receipts for each sale and transfer of goods and services from P100 to P500; and reduces the number of income tax return (ITR) pages from four to two pages.
According to the PCO, it also mandates the adoption of an integrated digitalization strategy by providing end-to-end solutions for the benefit of taxpayers to improve the performance and efficiency of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
The digitalization initiatives specified by the law include the adoption of an integrated and automated system for facilitating basic tax services and the setting up of an electronic and online system for data and information exchange between offices and departments.
The PCO said the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR) shall be promulgated 90 days from the effectivity of the Act after the Finance Secretary’s consultation with the BIR, and the private sector.