By: Atty. Euney Marie Mata-Perez on 2Apr20

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic is greatly affecting all of us.

To contain or manage the pandemic, the government imposed an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) covering Luzon, which we hope would end on April 12. Due to the serious threat to health, safety, security and lives of our people, Congress passed Republic Act 11469, or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.” This law authorizes President Rodrigo Duterte to exercise additional powers to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Among these powers is to move statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, and payment of taxes, fees and other charges, as required by law.

There have been numerous government issuances to enable citizens and taxpayers to cope with the crisis by extending filing and payment deadlines. For the benefit of our clients and friends, we at Mata-Perez, Tamayo & Francisco (MTF Counsel) compiled all these issuances, which you may visit at https://mtfcounsel.com/2020/03/28/mtf-updates-covid-19-issuances/ or https://mtfcounsel.com. Just click on the news section for all articles by MTF Counsel.

It is very important for everyone, including taxpayers and importers, to know these issuances, which we will summarize below:

1. Court proceedings and filings

a. All courts nationwide shall be physically closed and may be reached only through their respective hotlines. Only urgent matters shall be acted upon. (SC Admin Circular 32-2020)
b. The filing of petitions, appeals, complaints, motions, pleadings and other court submissions that fall due during the period from March 15, 2010 to April 15, 2020 is extended for 30 days.

2. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Filings

a. Annual ITR – The filing of annual income tax returns, together with the required attachments, has been extended to May 15, 2020. (Revenue Memorandum Circular [RMC] 28 and 30-2020)

b. VAT filings – The filing of the quarterly value-added tax returns due on March 25, 2020 for the fiscal quarter ending February 29, 2020 is extended to April 27, 2020. (RMC 30-2020) The 90-day period to process VAT refunds is suspended. (RMC 27-2020)

c. BIR submissions – Various Bureau of Internal Revenue submissions have been extended up to May 2020. (RMC 30-2020)

d. Amnesty on delinquencies – The availment of the tax amnesty on delinquencies has been extended to May 23, 2020. (RMC 33-2020).

e. Statute of limitations – The suspension of the running of the statute of limitations in the collection and assessment of taxes pursuant to Section 223 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended (Tax Code), starting March 16, 2020 until the lifting of the state of national emergency and for 60 days thereafter. (RMC 34-2020)

3. Bureau of Customs

a. Goods declaration involving donation for relief consignment may be provisionally declared. (Office of the Commissioner [OCOM] Memo 53-2020)

b. Conduct of hearings in all forfeiture proceeds is suspended. (OCOM Memo 54-2020)

c. Accreditation of Customs stakeholders, including importers and brokers, that will expire
during the ECQ shall remain valid. (OCOM Memo 57-2020)

d. The seven-day period to lodge goods declaration is suspended during the ECQ. (OCOM Memo 60-2020)

e. Implementation of the online filling of goods declaration. (OCOM Memo 61-2020)

4. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

a. Extension to submit audited financial statements for the period ending Dec. 31, 2019 to June 30, 2020. (SEC Memorandum Circular 5, series of 2020)

b. Allowing the submission of general information sheets electronically within 30 days from the election of directors, trustees and other officers. (SEC Memorandum Circular 9, series of 2020).

5. Social Security System – Contributions for February, March and April 2020 shall be paid on or before June 1, 2020 (Circular 2020-006).

6. Pag-IBIG Fund – Pag-IBIG has issued guidelines on the granting of moratorium on short-term loan amortizations and housing loan installments (Circular 432).

There is no nationwide suspension or extension of real property tax payments. Thus, many business groups, headed by the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex), appealed to the President and the heads of the Finance and Interior departments to make the suspension or extension uniform nationwide.

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