BIR expanded taxpayer base in 2021 through digitalization — DOF

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has broadened its taxpayer base in 2021, owing to its digitalization efforts to make tax collection more efficient, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Wednesday.

Citing a report by BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay, the DOF said the taxman recorded 4.63 million business taxpayers last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 5.14% higher than the 4.41 million registered businesses in 2020.

The BIR chief also reported that the number of electronically filed tax returns of 23.78 million made up 93% of the 25.66 million filed returns in 2021, according to the Finance Department.

“We can attribute our improved performance to our digitalization transformation programs as well as to our increasing number of young workers who are quicker and more adept at learning digital skills,” said Dulay.

In particular, the DOF said that with the BIR’s use of digital payment channels to settle tax dues, about P1.75 trillion or 84% of the P2.08 trillion tax collection in 2021 was collected electronically.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III commended the BIR for “[doing] a great job, ?particularly in introducing digital technology, which has really helped continue the tax collection effort, especially during the pandemic,” the DOF said.

The agency, likewise, said that since the beginning of the Duterte administration, the BIR’s collection steadily grew from P1.58 trillion in 2016, to P1.78 trillion and P1.96 trillion in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

The highest tax collection so far was in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when collections amounted to P2.19 trillion, before dipping to P1.96 trillion at the height of the COVID-19 global outbreak in 2020 and climbing back to P2.08 trillion in 2021, the DOF said.

It also noted that since the Tax Amnesty Law took effect in 2018, the BIR was able to collect, as of June 2021, a total of P13.8 billion from 85,556 taxpayers that availed of the amnesty offered for tax on delinquencies and unsettled estate taxes.

As part of its digital transformation efforts, the DOF said the BIR has rolled out, among others, its Internal Revenue Integrated System (IRIS), which serves as the Bureau’s central tool and repository to process taxpayer information; and the Enhanced Internal Revenue Stamps Integrated System (IRSIS), which is an application that manages the ordering, production, distribution, affixing and tracking of revenue stamps to monitor the proper payment of excise taxes on tobacco products.

Likewise, new business registrations can now be done through the BIR’s web-based portal launched on June 1, 2021.

The BIR has also put in place its Online Application for Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes and Tax Compliance Verification Certificate; the e-Personal Equity and Retirement Account System; and its eAppointment, which received around 90,000 bookings from May to December of last year, according to the DOF.

The taxman also launched in June last year a single hotline number and its Chatbot “REVIE” on its website to assist taxpayers with general inquiries, on top of being able to email the bureau regarding their concerns.

The BIR has also improved its Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS), Electronic Fund Transfer Instructions System (eFTIS), and other e-payment channels to make it easier for taxpayers to pay taxes online, the DOF said.

The taxman also increased its workforce from 9,626 employees in 2016 to its current 13,818 workers, of whom 6,540 or 44% were hired from 2016 to 2021. — RSJ, GMA News