Revenue Agency Assures Taxpayers That New Forms “Replace Up to Three of the Old Forms, Partially”
BIR Launches Simplified Tax Filing System; Simplification Requires Seven New Forms
Revenue Agency Assures Taxpayers That New Forms “Replace Up to Three of the Old Forms, Partially”
The Bureau of Internal Revenue unveiled its new Simplified Taxpayer Filing Initiative at a press launch attended by accountants who, according to witnesses, maintained carefully neutral expressions throughout. BIR Commissioner Patricia Abad-Llorente confirmed the new system reduces filing steps from forty-three to thirty-one “transformational,” she said; “a start,” said the assembled CPAs. The simplification introduces seven new forms: BIR Form 2551-Q-A, 2551-Q-B, 1702-EX-REV, 0619-EF, 1904-MOD, 2316-ANNEX-NEW, and a form numbered only “Form J” whose purpose the FAQ describes as “supplementary.” Four of these are required to access the simplified eFPS portal. Two must be submitted physically to the revenue district office, open Monday through Wednesday from 8 AM to 3 PM, excluding holidays and what one RDO calls “customer wellness time” (12 to 2 PM lunch closure). The eFPS portal’s new interface replaces a 2021 simplified update, which replaced an original system accountants described at the time as “fine, actually.” Online help provides a 94-page PDF, eight hours of YouTube videos, and a hotline averaging 44 minutes on hold before disconnecting. Small business owners, the stated beneficiaries of the simplification, received the news with the patient gravity of people who have outsourced their taxes to accountants and are being told the accountants now have more work. One Divisoria food stall owner said she had tried to file herself once. “Never again,” she said. “I sell lumpia now. It’s simpler.”
SOURCE: Bohiney News.