BIR tax filings rise over 20% this year

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recorded a more than 20-percent increase in electronic tax filings this year due to ramped up campaign and digitalization efforts. In an interview with PTV yesterday, BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui  Jr. said there has been a good turnout in the filing and payment of the annual income tax return (AITR) this year.

“We saw about a 22.5-percent increase from last year’s filing. It was a good turnout,” Lumagui said.

Data showed that there were 1.98 million electronic filers from Jan. 1 to April 23, a 22.5-percent increase from the 1.62 million logged in the same period in 2024.

The BIR is still validating data for the manual filers.

“I think more than the fear of not paying, the reason for the increase is the early campaign kickoff that we did in February,” Lumagui said.

“We also made sure that tax filings and payments online will be done much easier,” he said.

Over the past weeks leading to the AITR filing deadline last week, the BIR observed a noticeable decrease in foot traffic at district offices and filing centers.

During the last day on April 15, lines were also shorter, an indication that the agency’s electronic filing and payment system is effective.

Moving forward, Lumagui said the BIR would continue to improve its digital transformation initiatives to ensure that filing and payment of taxes will be efficient.

Under the tax rules, individuals with taxable income are generally required to file income tax returns.

However, exemptions apply to those earning P250,000 or less annually, employees covered by substituted filing, individuals whose income is subjected to final withholding tax and minimum wage earners.

The BIR estimates total collections to reach around P431.95 billion this month. Of the amount, nearly half or approximately P207.63 billion is expected to come from net income and profit taxes.

The P432-billion goal for April reflects a 14-percent increase from the P379 billion collected during the same period last year.