MANILA -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collections paid through electronic channels are seen to further rise from about 84 percent in 2019 after the bureau tapped another digital financial services firm, PayMaya.
In an interview after the launch of the BIR-PayMaya partnership on Friday, BIR Deputy Commissioner for Information Systems Group Lanee David said PayMaya is their seventh e-payment channel.
She said the volume of digital payments is big because large taxpayers are mandated to pay electronically.
David noted that small and medium-sized businesses and individual taxpayers would now be more encouraged to pay electronically, given the number of banks and financial services firms that offer this service for BIR-related collections.
The other electronic channels for BIR-related payments are the electronic filing and payment system (EFPS), Land Bank of the Philippines bizlink portal, Development Bank of the Philippines’ pay tax online, Union Bank of the Philippines’ online payment, Globe G-Cash, and PesoNet.
PesoNet is a real-time electronic payment system and is one of two automated clearing houses under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ National Retail Payment System.
The Department of Finance on Thursday said revenues collected by the BIR through electronic channels reached PHP1.2 billion in 2019, up by 92 percent compared to the PHP626.35 million in the previous year.
David said taxpayers who submitted their income tax returns reached 60 percent of the total as of last year and this is targeted to increase in the coming years since the agency aims to be fully digital by 2030. (PNA)
