DOF extends deadlines on tax amnesty, voluntary assessment program to June 2021

The Department of Finance (DOF) said Tuesday it has extended the deadlines for availing of the Tax Amnesty on Delinquencies (TAD) and Voluntary Assessment and Payment Program (VAPP). 

The DOF issued Revenue Regulations (RR) Nos. 32-2020 and 33-2020 extending the respective deadlines of the TAD and VAPP until June 2021.

The original deadline for availing of the TAD was on December 31, 2020, as stated under RR No. 15-2020.

The said revenue regulation was an amendment to RR Nos. 11-2020, 10-2020, and 7-2020, which were issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to implement Republic Act (RA) No. 11213, or the Tax Amnesty Law.

Meanwhile, the new regulations were issued under RA 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, which allowed the extension of statutory deadlines and timelines to ease the taxpayers’ burden under COVID-19-related mobility restrictions. 

Likewise, RR No. 33-2020 extends the deadline for availing of the VAPP.

Initiated by the DOF and the BIR under RR 21-2020, the VAPP lets taxpayers voluntarily settle their unpaid internal revenue tax, with or without an ongoing audit or investigation.

Those who will do so shall not be audited for 2018 for the tax types availed.

As of last month, the DOF said the BIR reported that it had collected more than P200 million from the program with just three months of implementation.

The majority of the applicants were small business taxpayers who wish to settle their 2018 tax liabilities, the Finance department said.

“We are delighted that the VAPP has been helping our small and medium taxpayers settle their 2018 tax obligations while also generating additional revenue collection for the BIR. The same goes with the TAD program,” Undersecretary Antonette Tionko of the DOF Revenue Operations Group (ROG) said.

"By further extending the two programs, we hope to help more taxpayers settle their tax deficiencies amid the pandemic," she added. 

Both the TAD and the VAPP are extended until June 30, 2021.

The DOF noted that the RR No. 33-2020 ensures that the BIR correctly evaluates VAPP applications by requiring denials and invalidation to be supported by documents such as Discrepancy Notices and other third-party information documents.

Taxpayers whose VAPP applications are denied or whose VAPP entitlements are invalidated may likewise appeal to either the Assistant Commissioner for Large Taxpayer Service or the Regional Director, the department said. — RSJ, GMA News