The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) kicked off its 2010 tax campaign led by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves last Friday, Feb 5, in an effort to raise P830 billion this year.  Commissioner Joel L. Tan-Torres disclosed that various efforts made to ease the burden of taxpayers when filing 2009 income tax returns (ITR) and also to make it easier for banks to process them.

On their part, the process has done away with the requirement of multiple stamping of ITRs and attachments by banks and except on the page of audit certificate and the three copies of the returns. On the taxpayers’ side, Tan-Torres requested individual and corporate taxpayers not to wait until the last minute when filing their returns in order to avoid the hustle that normally occurs during rush hours. The BIR chief also stressed that like in the past, the April 15 deadline will not be extended and late filers will be slapped the usual fines and surcharges.

Tan-Torres expressed optimism of hitting the huge collection target for the year as evidenced by the more than P3 billion collection surplus last month. He did not give actual figures, saying that they were still tentative.

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