BIR chief urges tax payers to file ITR now

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Caesar Dulay on Wednesday asked taxpayers to file their annual income tax returns (ITR) before the April 17 deadline or ahead of the Holy Week break.

"I will take this opportunity ... to call on our fellow citizens – tax payers – to please pay their taxes correctly and on time. Kung pwede, sa ngayon pa lang, you start paying your taxes now. Let's not wait for the deadline on April 17, on Monday," Dulay said in an interview with GMA News' Howie Severino on "News to Go."

The actual deadline is usually on April 15, but it falls on Black Saturday this year, a non-working holiday.

"When that happens we adjust it to the next working day, which is Monday ... April 17," he said.

Among the improvements in the BIR's tax collection initiative was the filling centers inside the head office in Quezon City and the electronic filling of income tax returns.

"One of the improvements we did was to open tax filling centers, here, at the head office. Usually sa mga district offices 'yan," he said.

"One of the improvements of the agency, that you can file your returns electronically and you can also pay it electronically," he added.

Compromise settlement

To improve tax collection, Dulay said he adopted his predecessor Kim Henares' compromise settlement program for delinquent tax payers.

"I have been encouraging a compromise settlement program, an expanded compromise settlement program ... na under the Tax Code anyway, Section 204, the commissioner is authorized to enter into compromise settlement programs," he said.

"We have received a lot of offers for settlement that will improve our collection also, especially those way back from 2012 down. Go as far as 2002, 2006 ... that's how far back 'yung mga proposals for settlement para makatulong din sa negosyante, because they'll need tax clearances, certificates, and we cannot give that to them if they don't settle their assessments," he added. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News