Philippines E-PESO SHORT-TERM CONSULTANT REPORT

In line with this goal, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) seeks to computerize the filing of tax returns and payment of taxes. The E-PESO program focuses on registering and authorizing third-party tax software providers (TSPs) to submit their clients' e-tax filing and payment. The E-PESO program has made significant progress in transitioning tax payments to digital channels. Since the introduction of the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) and the integration of online banking services of both Authorized Government Depository Banks (AGDBs) and Authorized Agent Banks (AABs), the BIR has been collecting a bulk of its tax revenues through digital payments. By the end of 2019, total tax revenue collected from digital payment channels (eFPS and new channels) amounted to Php1.831 trillion, up by 12% from 2018. The share of digital payments in tax revenue collection was sustained at 84% in 2019, although transaction volume share increased to 17%. The 2020Q3 tax revenue collection is showing an uptrend with digital payments increasing its share to 86% as well as a significant jump in digital payment transaction share to 29%. This is primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited the mobility of taxpayers due to the ECQ. The E-PESO program has also made significant progress in accrediting tax filing software developed by TSPs. As of 2020 Q3, 78% of tax filers are already filing electronically, which is significantly up from 58% by the end of 2019. Also, the share of e-filing has jumped from 86% by the end of 2019 to 94% in the first nine months of 2020. The program aims to continue this trend until the end of 2020 and drive the transition of all e-filers to digital payment. The E-PESO program has also implemented various digital payment channels, including GCash in 2016, online card payment (credit card and ATM/debit card) through Development Bank of the Philippines' (DBP) Pay Tax Online and Landbank's LinkBiz Portal in 2017, PESONet via Landbank's LinkBiz Portal and online payment via Union Bank of the Philippines in 2019, and PayMaya in early 2020. These digital payment channels have significantly increased the share of digital payments in total tax revenue collection of the BIR. The E-PESO program has also made significant progress in developing and deploying e-payments backend modules, including posting of data and reports generation. The program has also developed TSP tools for five (5) additional eBIR forms, including 1604C, 1604F, 1701(v2018), 1702EX(v2018), and 1701A(v2018). The program has also implemented various additional tasks, including fixes on issues raised during production for eBIRForms Offline Package ver 7.6, creation of SQL file to fix the data issue from 1Y to 2Y, and investigation of discrepancies in CBR and CRDC data.