Taxpayers were given more time to avail of the government’s Tax Amnesty on Delinquencies (TAD) and Voluntary Assessment and Payment Program (VAPP).
In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Finance (DoF) said it has issued Revenue Regulations (RR) 32-2020 and 33-2020 lengthening until June 30, 2021 the respective deadlines for availing of the TAD and VAPP.
The original deadline for availing of the TAD was December 31, 2020, as stated under RR No. 15-2020. This 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) 11213, or the “Tax Amnesty Law,” it noted.
Implemented by the BIR in April last year, the law allows delinquent taxpayers to settle their tax liabilities incurred in 2017 and prior years.
“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 (coronavirus disease 2019)-related mobility restrictions,” the Finance department pointed out.
Meanwhile, RR 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, according to the DoF.
Initiated by the Finance department and the BIR, the VAPP lets taxpayers voluntarily settle their unpaid internal revenue tax, with or without an ongoing audit/investigation. Those who will do so shall not be audited for 2018 for the tax types availed.
The DoF said taxpayers whose VAPP applications are denied or whose VAPP entitlements are invalidated may also appeal to either the Assistant Commissioner for Large Taxpayer Service or the regional director.
As of last month, the BIR reported that it had collected more than P200 million from the program with just three months of implementation.
The Finance department stressed that the majority of the applicants were small business taxpayers who wish to settle their 2018 tax liabilities.
“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 was quoted as saying.
“By further extending the two programs, we hope to help more taxpayers settle their tax deficiencies amid the pandemic,” she added.