Part of our adulting Filipino life is declaring taxes. And when it comes into schedule every month, I always go through the same “why isn’t this easier?”.

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First off, not every bank accepts payment. In your specified RDO, only a few banks are accredited, and BIR has a list of banks per RDO, accessible via this PDF list. What’s worse is you can only pay in your accredited bank, only in your RDO.

Second, Banco de Oro (BDO), what I consider the most accessible bank nationwide, which also is the one that stays the latest, and is open in malls on Saturdays, isn’t accredited.

Can’t BIR simply set a secure government website, which could accept payments with your credit or debit cards? Or can’t BIR simply make every bank capable of accepting payments? As of this post, don’t get your hopes up. But there is one easier method.

GCash. (Sign up, if you haven’t yet with my referral link).

Today was the first time I tried paying taxes via GCash, and I may never revert back to falling in line in the bank ever again.

I have an accountant who builds my monthly forms, and does the computations as well as the online declarations and submissions. Provided that you’ve done the declarations, the payment method is the only one left to do.

The steps are simple. Make sure you have a GCash account. Don’t have one yet? Register now and you can get P50 worth of freebies.

• Open your GCash app.
• Click “Pay Bills”
• Choose the “Government” icon
• Choose “BIR”
• Fill in the proper details
• Click Next and Pay Up!

Things to note:

• The form types can be chosen via drop down options. You should find your declaration type available.
• Return period refers to the latter part in the range found on your form. So if a quarter July to September, you put down 093019 for September 30 2019
• Branch code refers to the numbers after your 9-digit TIN. Did you notice how your TIN goes like 123-456-789-000? The first 9 digits (123456789) is your actual TIN, the next digits, in this case 000, is your branch code. Businesses are the entities which usually have 5 specific digits here. Since ours (and probably yours) is 000, you simply put in 00000, since it requires 5 digits.
• This method is applicable to paying taxes no more than PHP10,000.

That’s it! No extra fees. You’re done! No gas consumed in traffic, no parking fees, no waiting in line. You simply must make sure you’ve loaded your GCash with ample balance to deduct the proper amount needed.

For your sake, make sure you get a screenshot of the actual reference number once payment’s been instantly confirmed. Nevertheless, you will also receive an SMS confirmation, as well as an email confirmation, provided you filled in your email in the form upon payment.

For now, this is the easiest method to pay taxes, and yet again, we have a private entity like GCash to thank for making things easier.

If you found this helpful, help a friend with their adulting life and share this method. Hope this helps!

Edit: 1/29/2021
Been asked a couple of times about common matters and while I’m no expert, my accountant was able to answer a couple for you:

Q: I misclicked and put in the wrong date on GCash. Can I reverse this?
A: There’s no direct solution to fix this via the app. According to my accountant, what’s important is you were able to remit the required amount. You can later on correct this with BIR. You can always opt to contact GCash support immediately for it, provided you have the reference.

Q: Will GCash payments be posted immediately?
A: As far as we know, GCash payments are posted to BIR within 3 days. Nevertheless, what matters is the actual date you remitted via GCash.

Q: I missed the bank and today is the deadline. Is it fine if I pay GCash after banking hours?
A: Again, what matters is the actual date you remitted the payment, so it should be fine. One important thing to note is that deadlines that fall on a Sunday, normally permits the next day. So for example, January 31 falls on a Sunday, you may remit your RF0605 on February 1.

Q: Is there any advantage if I pay this via bank? via GCash?
A: Nothing that matters. The only significant difference is that remittances made through the bank will then incur the bank stamp on your form. For that same purpose of a ‘receipt,’ you may simply print out your GCash copy, which contains the reference number, and staple it onto your form – same same. If anything, I think the annual ITR is worth the trip to the bank, just so your forms have a physical stamp. Just looks more legit. The monthly/quarterly ones – do it here.