A reconciled version of the proposed Ease of Paying Taxes Act has been ratified by the Senate, putting the measure an inch away from getting enacted into law, Senator Win Gatchalian said.
“This is an important measure that would support our goal of sustaining economic growth as the taxes are the government’s main source of revenue for critical projects and programs. Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, magkakaroon na tayo ng isang batas na tutugon sa komplikadong pagbabayad ng buwis at magpapabilis ng proseso habang hinihikayat natin ang mga taxpayer na tuparin ang kanilang obligasyon,” said Gatchalian, author of the proposed measure.
The ratification followed a bicameral conference committee meeting with both members of the Senate and House of Representatives agreeing to use the Senate version as the working draft of the reconciled bill.
Among the salient features of the bill is a provision that exempts overseas Filipino workers from filing income tax returns, said Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. The measure sets additional categories of taxpayers namely the micro, small, and medium taxpayers. Penalties incurred by micro and small taxpayers will also be reduced.
In addition, the measure allows the filing of returns and payment of taxes electronically or manually with any authorized agent bank, or revenue district office through a revenue collection officer or authorized tax software provider. The same method will be applied in the registration of taxpayers without the need to pay for the P500 annual registration fee, Gatchalian said.
The measure, the senator added, sets the period for processing tax refunds to 180 days from the date of submission of complete documents. It further provides for the recovery of output VAT paid on uncollected receivables, implementation of audit risk assessment in the processing of VAT claims, and would require only the VAT invoice as proof of transaction.
