2551M: Monthly Percentage Tax (Amendment)

Hello! If you’ve been following my blog, you already know that I finally registered as a self-employed professional just last January. As such, one of the responsibilities I have is to pay the Monthly Percentage Tax (MPT), which is 3% of my gross income as an online English tutor. So far, I’ve filed & paid for 3 months (Jan-March 2017), but I had to amend them, leading to this blog post.

Alright, a little background about my job’s salary system: we only get paid once a month, but we can request for cash advance, so many tutors still get paid bimonthly. 10% of our gross income is withheld. Now here’s the tricky part: our salary for this month will be distributed in the following month. For example, my earnings for December 2016 were deposited in January 2017, then my January income was given in February, and so on. Hence, the generated 1st quarter 2307 (Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld) from my job’s website reflects my December 2016-February 2017 gross income & withheld tax. This is where I saw a discrepancy.

The 2551Ms I filed in February, March, and April where actually for my January, February, and March salaries respectively. This means, the total income I have for the three 2551Ms is different from the one reflected in my 2307. In filing my 1701Q (Quarterly Income Tax), an accountant advised me to input the total income as reflected in my filed 2551Ms, but for the withheld tax, he told me to copy what’s in my 2307.

Since I still wasn’t sure if what I did was correct, I decided to visit my RDO along with my fellow tutor and one of my best friends, Tutor NikkiB (her blog is also quite informative). A BIR officer advised us to request for a change of our 2307 from our company. I tried, but they told me to simply amend my 2551Ms and 1701Q. To be sure, I had to ask a lot of people for help to smoothen out my 1st quarter, and I’m deeply grateful to all of them. Therefore, this blog post is my way of paying it forward, in case you also need to amend your 2551Ms and/or 1701Q.

So how did I amend these files? I’m assuming you already have the latest e-BIR Forms software, version 6.3. Input your TIN, and the program will automatically show your saved data. Choose 2551M from the drop down menu of forms and click “fill-up.” From this point on, kindly refer to the red boxes in the following screenshot:

Box #1: Same as your previously filed 2551M, but this time click “Yes” for “Amended Return?” Also, tutor Manilyn.RO said to input the number of 2307 files you have, depending on how many companies/employers withheld tax from you. In my case, it’s only 1.

Box #2: Since this is my 2551M for January 2017, I had to input my December 2016 gross income, as reflected in my 2307 for the first quarter of this year. Then my January & February gross salaries for the February and March 2551Ms respectively. For further reference, this coming May, the income I will indicate is what I earned for March since I will be submiting the April 2551M.

Box #3: Here, I typed in the MPT I originally paid – just check your previously filed 2551M for the same month. If the automatically computed tax is less than what you previously paid, then you’ll have go to your RDO first. Bring 3 copies of the amended form, ask the officer of the day to stamp/sign it, then pay the amount (with interest) at any BIR-accredited bank of your RDO. I had to amend my March 2551M (February salary), and I had to pay an extra P7.39 as interest. If the computed tax is more than what you originally paid, check the 4th red box.

Box #4: You may click either, but if you want a refund…. hmmm, from what I heard, it’s nearly impossible to get back, so it’s recommendable to click “To be issued as a tax credit certificate.” Just keep a copy of your amendment form/s, no need to go to your RDO if it’s negative.

Still not clear? Here’s a summary:

• Follow the same step of filing the 2551M but this time, indicate the correct amount to be filed.
• Make sure to click “Yes” for “Amended Return?” on the top part and indicate the period to be amended.
• Indicate the correct taxable amount & the amount paid from the previously filed 2551Ms; you’ll know if there’s any overpayment or underpayment of tax. Go to your RDO for computation of interest/penalty, stamping, and then pay if underpaid.
• File/submit 3 amended returns via the eBIR package, one for each month (Jan-Feb-Mar).

As for my 1701Q, I needed to amend line 26 only. This time, the total earnings reflected in my 2307 and amended 2551Ms match. The amount in lines 38 G/H and 38 I/J is the same since I already input the correct tax withheld as per my 2307 in my previously filed 1701Q.

Don’t forget to validate and submit your amended forms! You’ll be receiving an automatically-generated response from the BIR via email.

Anyway, hope this clears things up, especially for my fellow RareJob tutors. Aaaaand in case you’re interested to be an online English tutor, register now! 🙂