It’s hip2b2

Here is another interesting move by Philippines’ second largest mobile network operators, Globe. Together with with Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), which is responsible for tax collection in the country, they have introduced a new service called PAYBIR.

PAYBIR is a project initiated by BIR to support its Tax Collection Drive. Through the PAYBIR service, taxpayers may now pay their tax of P10,000 and below by a simple text message. The PAYBIR Project was forged in partnership with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) as the Accredited Agent Bank and Globe Telecom acting as taxpayer agent. Globe utilizes its G-Cash facility to make tax payments on behalf of its subscribers.

How does it work?

1. Register for the service. Text REG <4-digit M-PIN>/<mother ’s Maiden Name>/<first Name>/<last Name>/<address>/<telephone No. with area code> to 2882. You only have to do this once.
2. Fill out the correct BIR Tax Return Form
3. Make sure you have enough G-cash credit. Just go to any Authorized G-Cash Outlet which accepts cash-in transactions. Show the required identification to frontliner. Give the frontliner the cash plus the processing fee. The outlet will send the G-Cash to your mobile phone number directly.
4. Pay your tax of P10,000 and below using G-Cash. PAYBIR <amount> <mpin> <form Type> <tax Type> <return Period> <tin> <tpbc> <rdo> <tpname> send to 2882.
5. Indicate on the lower portion of your tax return the G-Cash trace number
6. Go to your nearest Revenue District Office (RDO) to file your tax return. A designated BIR officer shall be assigned to accept your tax return
7. Keep a copy of the tax return for future reference. You may also print a copy of the payment confirmation return from this website www.bir.gov.ph the day after you pay using G-Cash

This is a pretty convenient service. Having to go to the bank to pay taxes is a real hassle. Not a lot of people have Internet access to benefit from Internet banking. This is definitely something that would make things easier. However, it would have been even cooler if there where a way of also filing the tax return online.

Evil note: Of course, I can sense some possible scams that may emerge. Similar to pasaload scams, it is possible for a third party to spoof a notification message from the BIR and pretend to be re-request a transaction. Then the evil third party can get the user’s MPIN. Oh no!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 20th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.