Fix your tax website—people want to pay their taxes!
Taxpayers, particularly businesspeople, seeking to pay their taxes have been appealing to the Finance Ministry to fix its BIR website which has been down.
Businesspeople contacted the media sending a screen grab picture of the downed system.
Taxpayers now can only prepare and file returns online via the BIR’s website.
Returns can no longer be prepared offline and dropped off at a BIR office. This applies to all returns.
Businesspeople and non-business people said, “The problem is for several days this month, the BIR’s website engine for preparing returns is down and this is impeding preparation and submission of corporation tax and individual tax returns in a deadline month—deadline is officially October 31, 2020.”
The website carried the notice stating,” Logged in services are currently unavailable due to challenges with the ttconnect service.”
As of Tuesday they noted logged in services were down for the many taxpayers with accounts online who have returns in progress.
They added, “As a result of this impediment with finance, is an extension—even if a week to two weeks forthcoming in view of this problem which is no fault of taxpayers.”
They also noted that many taxpayers do not have access to internet or have the technical skills to prepare returns online.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert, who on Monday warned that Government is going on an big tax collection drive ahead, didn’t answer WhatsApp query on the situation and what the issue might be or what will be done to assist those who want to give Government their tax money on time.
Other Finance Ministry officials said they didn’t know anything about a breakdown of the system, what the challenges with the ttconnect service were or could give assurance to check it out.