What Is the BIR eAFS System, and How Do You Submit Financial Statements Electronically?

The BIR eAFS (Electronic Audited Financial Statements) System is the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s online portal for submitting scanned or digital copies of Audited Financial Statements and other Income Tax Return attachments, replacing manual, in-person submission at the taxpayer’s Revenue District Office. It does not replace the ITR filing itself — eFPS or eBIRForms still handles that — but it is the required channel for the attachments that come with the return: the AFS, BIR Form 2316 for compensation earners, related-party transaction disclosures, and similar supporting documents.

This guide covers what eAFS does, the RMCs that built and expanded it, who submits through it, the 15-calendar-day submission window after the ITR deadline, and a worked example of a corporation e-filing its BIR Form 1702-RT and then following up with its eAFS submission.

What does the BIR eAFS system actually do? #

eAFS lets a taxpayer scan and upload the required Income Tax Return attachments as PDF files through a BIR web portal, instead of physically bringing bound copies to the RDO. Attachments commonly submitted through eAFS include:

• The Audited Financial Statements themselves
• A copy of the filed Income Tax Return
• BIR Form 2316 for employees, where applicable
• Statement of Management Responsibility
• The Independent CPA’s Certificate accompanying the AFS
• BIR Form 1709 (Information Return on Related Party Transactions), where required
• Other schedules and attachments the specific return calls for

The system issues a confirmation upon successful upload, which serves as the taxpayer’s proof of timely submission — the electronic equivalent of a stamped “received” copy from an RDO counter.

Which RMCs established and expanded eAFS? #

eAFS was introduced as an additional filing option in 2020 and progressively became the standard channel through a series of revenue memorandum circulars.

Each subsequent filing season, the BIR reiterates and, where needed, adjusts the mechanics — including that year’s exact submission dates — through its annual circular covering that year’s Annual Income Tax Return filing guidelines. Always check the current year’s circular rather than assuming a prior year’s dates carry forward unchanged, since the BIR has periodically granted blanket extensions to the AITR deadline that shift the eAFS window along with it.

Who is required or allowed to use eAFS? #

eAFS is the standard channel for submitting ITR attachments across most taxpayer types, but only taxpayers who actually have attachments to submit — chiefly those required to prepare Audited Financial Statements — have something to file through it.

• Corporations generally must maintain audited financial statements for both tax and SEC purposes, so they routinely submit through eAFS.
• Self-employed individuals and professionals whose gross sales, receipts, or output exceed the threshold that triggers the audited financial statement requirement likewise submit through eAFS.
• Taxpayers below that threshold who qualify for the Optional Standard Deduction or the 8% gross receipts tax option, and who are not otherwise required to prepare audited financial statements, typically have no AFS to submit and so have limited or no eAFS obligation for that return.
• Manual submission of attachments directly at the RDO is generally reserved for cases where the BIR has officially announced eAFS is unavailable, not as a routine alternative for taxpayers who simply prefer paper.

When must attachments be submitted through eAFS? #

The standing rule is that ITR attachments must be submitted through eAFS within fifteen (15) calendar days after the statutory deadline for filing the Annual Income Tax Return — or within fifteen (15) calendar days from the actual filing date if the return itself was filed after the deadline. This 15-day rule was set out under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 43-2021’s consolidated guidelines and is reiterated in the BIR’s annual AITR filing circular each year.

Because the BIR has, in past filing seasons, issued a blanket extension to the AITR deadline itself and then set one uniform eAFS date for everyone regardless of when they actually filed within the extended window, filers should treat the 15-day count as the default rule and cross-check the current year’s specific circular before finalizing an internal compliance calendar.

What file format and naming rules apply? #

eAFS accepts attachments only as PDF files — Word documents, image files, and ZIP archives are not accepted formats. The BIR also prescribes a file-naming convention for uploads that embeds the taxpayer’s 9-digit Tax Identification Number, a document-type code identifying whether the file is the ITR itself, the AFS, or another attachment, and the taxable year the filing covers. Numbering additional files within the same document-type group in sequence keeps a multi-file AFS package (cover letter, notes to financial statements, independent auditor’s report) organized as a single identifiable set rather than a pile of ambiguously named PDFs.

Worked example: e-filing BIR Form 1702-RT, then submitting AFS via eAFS #

A domestic corporation on a calendar fiscal year e-files its BIR Form 1702-RT (Annual Income Tax Return for corporations) through eFPS on April 10 of the filing year — five days before the April 15 statutory deadline — and pays the tax due in the same online transaction.

Filing the return early through eFPS does not shorten the eAFS window and does not require the AFS package to be ready on the same day as the return — the corporation still has until 15 calendar days after the statutory deadline, not 15 days after its own early filing date, to complete the eAFS upload. Confirming the current year’s specific eAFS date against that year’s AITR circular remains good practice, since the BIR has moved this date in past seasons when it extended the overall filing deadline.

How eAFS fits with eFPS and eBIRForms #

eAFS is a separate system from eFPS and eBIRForms — it never files the tax return itself, only the supporting documents that accompany an already-filed return. Whether a corporation is a mandatory eFPS filer or files through eBIRForms, the eAFS submission step for attachments works the same way once the return is filed. See eFPS vs eBIRForms: Which One Do You Need to File With? for which filing system applies to a given taxpayer, and 2026 BIR Tax Filing Deadlines Calendar for how the annual income tax return deadline that eAFS’s 15-day window is measured from fits into the rest of the year’s filing calendar.

Frequently asked questions #

What is the BIR eAFS System? #

The BIR eAFS (Electronic Audited Financial Statements) System is the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s online portal for submitting scanned or digital copies of Audited Financial Statements and other Income Tax Return attachments, in place of manual, in-person submission at the taxpayer’s Revenue District Office.

Which BIR issuances govern the eAFS system? #

Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 49-2020 first made eAFS available as an additional submission option, Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 82-2020 extended it to fiscal-year filers and quarterly ITR attachments, and Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 43-2021 issued revised, consolidated guidelines that made eAFS the standard channel and added attachments such as BIR Form 1709. The BIR reiterates the mechanics each filing season through annual circulars covering that year’s Annual Income Tax Return.

When must attachments be submitted through eAFS? #

The standing rule is that attachments must be submitted through eAFS within fifteen (15) calendar days from the statutory deadline for filing the Annual Income Tax Return, or within fifteen (15) calendar days from the actual date of filing if the return itself was filed late. The BIR can adjust this window for a specific filing season through its annual AITR guidance circular, so filers should confirm the current year’s exact date.

Who is required to use the eAFS system? #

eAFS applies to taxpayers who must submit Audited Financial Statements and related ITR attachments — generally corporations and self-employed individuals or professionals whose gross sales or receipts exceed the threshold that triggers the audited financial statement requirement. Taxpayers below that threshold who qualify for the Optional Standard Deduction or the 8% gross receipts tax option and are not otherwise required to have audited financial statements typically have nothing to submit through eAFS.

What file format does eAFS require? #

The eAFS system accepts attachments only in PDF format; formats such as Word documents, images, or ZIP archives are not accepted. The BIR also prescribes a file-naming convention that embeds the taxpayer’s 9-digit TIN, a document-type code identifying whether the file is the ITR, the AFS, or another attachment, and the taxable year covered.

Summary #

The BIR eAFS system is the required online channel for submitting Audited Financial Statements and other Income Tax Return attachments, built out through Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 49-2020, RMC No. 82-2020, and consolidated under RMC No. 43-2021. The standing rule is a 15-calendar-day submission window after the statutory ITR deadline (or after actual filing, if filed late), in PDF format under the BIR’s prescribed naming convention — but the BIR periodically adjusts the exact date each filing season, so confirm the current year’s AITR circular rather than assuming last year’s date applies unchanged.