Special InTAX: March 2022 Issue 2 | Volume 4

Bureau of Internal Revenue

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Bank Bulletin No. 2022-06, 18 March 2022, to reiterate the relevant responsibilities of the Authorized Agent Banks (AABs) pertaining to the acceptance of 2021 Annual Income Tax Return (AITR) and payments.

Some of the responsibilities of the AABs that taxpayers should take note of are as follows:

• Accept all tax payments being made by taxpayers using the new versions of the AITRs (in addition to using official printed forms/copies of system-generated Filing Reference Numbers (FRNs), photocopies or computer-generated e-filed tax returns; and downloaded AITRs filled out and signed by taxpayer/duly authorized representative)
• Stamp “RECEIVED” not more than three (3) copies of AITRs, except for those filing the BIR Form No. 1702 who are allowed to extend the stamping of “RECEIVED” in at least two (2) additional copies of the audited financial statements (AFS) to satisfy Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements (Note: AFS will only be stamped “RECEIVED” in the page of Audit Certificate, Balance Sheet, and Income Statement only.)
• AITRs and/or deposit slips should be machine-validated on the date of actual receipt of collection, with clearly imprinted details of tax payments in all copies. [If collection is received on a non-working day, it will be reported by the AAB on the next working day’s Batch Control Sheet.]
• Accept payments made through checks payable to BIR and/or combination of cash and check/s in payment for single tax liability (even without the receiving AAB Branch indicated in the check but the same was prepared in accordance with Bank Bulletin No. 2020-19)
• Accept the tax payments from taxpayers who are already within the bank's premises by the end of the extended banking hours
• Accept the manually filed and out-of-district returns, and corresponding payment of taxes from taxpayers enrolled in the eFPS in cases of unavailability of the eFPS facility, as announced by the BIR, through an advisory posted in the BIR website
• Not to impose penalties for any violations committed by taxpayers in filing of tax returns and payment of taxes since only the BIR can impose the appropriate penalties.

Attached is the full text of the issuance.

Bank Bulletin 2022-06 Acceptance by AABs of 2021 AITRs and Payments