Business

BIR reinstates another set of Henares' orders

December 7, 2016 | 6:31pm

BIR reinstates another set of Henares' orders

Earlier, the Tax Management Association of the Philippines blasted former Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, saying she should have restrained from issuing new orders as she was then two weeks away from stepping down. Philstar.com/File

MANILA, Philippines — Two more controversial orders of former Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares were found valid by the present administration, lifting their suspension despite earlier contentions from a tax managers' group.

Revenue Memorandum Circulars (RMC) 61- and 62-2016 are now back in effect "after further careful review and consideration," according to a new circular dated November 15.

"Consequently, with the lifting of suspension of the effectivity of the foregoing revenue issuances, the same shall be effective immediately," RMC 127-2016 stated.

Under RMC 61-2016, BIR prescribed rules that govern netting and offsetting of accounting costs, while RMC 62-2016 clarified the tax treatment of passed-on gross receipt tax.

Earlier, industry group Tax Management Association of the Philippines (TMAP) blasted Henares, saying she should have restrained from issuing new orders as she was then two weeks away from stepping down.

Both circulars were signed June 13.

"We hope the BIR will reconsider the lifting of the suspension or at least issue amendatory circular," TMAP president Benedict Tugonon said in a text message on Wednesday.

Upon taking over last July 1, BIR chief Caesar Dulay immediately suspended Henares' orders made from June 1 to 30 for checking. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier said he expanded this by "reviewing all tax-related issuances in the past."

So far, however, only three issuances under the last month of the previous government were canceled or amended, while 28 others were retained.

"I asked BIR to please review all the issuances so that we avoid burdening the public by collecting taxes that are not fair, that we are going to lose in court anyway...," Dominguez was quoted in a statement.

"And those that we are going to burden our taxpayers by paying penalties and interest," he said.

Under the Duterte administration, BIR made taxpayer satisfaction as one of its core mandates to encourage more tax payments

Toward this end, it also issued RMC 126-2016 last November 25, decentralizing issuance of certificates of zonal values to its district offices from originally just in the central office.

The same was made for requests for tax exemption certificates on separation benefits of those deceased, sick or went out of work "due to other cases beyond the control of said official or employee."

"These cases include, but not limited to, retrenchment, redundancy, installation of labor-saving devices and closure of business," Revenue Memorandum Order 66-2016 stated.

By making taxpayer transactions easier, BIR boosted revenues 9 percent to P1.29 trillion as of October, slightly faster than 8 percent last year.

Under the first four months of Dulay, however, average growth was just 4.3 percent, data showed.

BIR is tasked to collect P1.46 trillion for 2016.