BIR digitalization efforts can help save 25k trees yearly —Dominguez

Bureau of Internal Revenue's digital transformation initiatives on tax payment and filling has had positive environmental impact, according to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.

During the virtual National Tax Campaign Kickoff on Wednesday, Dominguez said digitalization projects of the BIR have helped save thousands of trees.

“We are saving around 500 million pages [yearly in] manual filing. According to my staff, we are saving 25,000 trees a year at least,” the Finance chief said.

“Ang trabaho ng BIR also has environmental effects,” he added.

Last year, the taxman allowed the use of digital payment tools such as PayMaya, GCash, Landbank Linkbizz, DBP PayTax, Union Bank Online, and PESONet as electronic payment channels for tax payments.

From January to December 2020, a total of 21,481,994 returns were filed through the BIR’s Electronic Filing and Payment (eFPS) and Electronic BIR Forms (eBIRForms). 

The figure represents 94% of the total returns filed in 2020, the highest percentage to date.

Likewise, a total of P1.665 trillion or 86% of the total BIR tax collections of P1.94 trillion in 2020 were collected through electronic payment channels, and P4.98 Billion of this amount were collected from the additional online payment channels.

Dominguez noted that he is also assigned by President Rodrigo Duterte as chairman of the Climate Change Commission.

“[So] I’m thinking about the environment also,” he said. —LBG, GMA News