BIR braces for taxpayer rush in last-minute filing

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is bracing for the customary last-minute rush of taxpayers to file their income tax returns (ITRs), even as it said there will be no extension for filing. Radio dzBB reported Thursday the BIR expects some 500,000 taxpayers to rush to its offices and to banks to file their ITRs. The report said the BIR advised the taxpayers to show up early and to avoid the last-minute rush, adding that banks will accept payments only up to 3 p.m. The BIT expects some P86 billion in revenues from the filing of income tax returns, the same radio report said.

Taxpayers who want to file their ITRs online can log on to the BIR website at www.bir.gov.ph, or call its hotline at 981-8888. On the other hand, the BIR said it has set up some systems for some emergencies such as brownouts, saying that its personnel are ready to transact with taxpayers "manually" in case there is no electricity. Rotating brownouts had plagued parts of Metro Manila, while blackouts had been a regular occurrence in Mindanao in past weeks. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV