BIR to save P230M annually from online tax payment scheme

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) would save some P230 million annually after the government started accepting online payments for taxes.

In an emailed statement on Sunday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the savings would come from the lowering of transaction fees charged by authorized agent banks (AABs).

AABs charged P40 per transaction prior to the scheme, but with the online payment, this was reduced to P25.00.

"[T]he BIR had bared in its report that the savings of P230 million will come from the lowering of transaction fees charged by authorized agent banks (AABs) from P40.00 to P25.00 under the PESONet-enabled facility," said the DOF.

The department announced last month that Filipinos could pay their taxes online using the electronic fund transfer (EFT) service PESONet.

"Under this initiative, the BIR is the first government biller institution to pilot and adopt the interoperable digital bills payment service for tax collection," Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said then.

Launched in November 2017, PESONet or the Philippine EFT System and Operations Network, was the country's first automated clearinghouse.

The service allows individuals to digitally transfer funds to any bank in the network, reflected within the same banking day.

The service was initially available through the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), but the government planned to expand the service to other local lenders. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News