FIELD AUDIT AND OTHER FIELD OPERATIONS ON ALL OUTSTANDING LETTERS OF AUTHORITY (LOA)/ AUDIT NOTICES AND LETTER NOTICES (LN) SHALL BE LIFTED PER INVESTIGATING OFFICE UPON APPROVAL OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE. (RMC No. 121-2022)

FIELD AUDIT AND OTHER FIELD OPERATIONS ON ALL OUTSTANDING LETTERS OF AUTHORITY (LOA)/ AUDIT NOTICES AND LETTER NOTICES (LN) SHALL BE LIFTED PER INVESTIGATING OFFICE UPON APPROVAL OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE. (RMC No. 121-2022)

• The BIR prescribes the guidelines on the lifting of suspension of field audit and operations pursuant to Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 77-2022.
• Lifting is on a per Investigating Office upon approval by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) of the Memorandum Request.
  • Investigating Office: Revenue District Office, Regional Investigation Division, VAT Audit Section, Office Audit Sections, Large Taxpayer VAT Audit Unit, Large Taxpayers Audit Divisions or National Investigation Division.
• Upon approval of Memorandum Request by the CIR, the Investigating Office shall immediately resume its field audit and other field operations on all outstanding Letter of Authority (LOAs), Audit Notices, and Letter Notices.
• No new LOAs, written orders to audit and/or investigate taxpayers’ internal revenue tax liabilities shall be issued and/or served except:
  •  (a) in those cases enumerated under RMC No. 77-2022
    • Investigation of cases prescribing on or before October 31, 2022, processing and verification of estate tax returns, donor’s tax returns, capital gains tax returns and withholding tax returns on the sale of real properties or shares of stocks together with the documentary stamp tax returns related thereto; Examination and/or verification of internal revenue tax liabilities of taxpayers retiring from business; o Audit of National Government Agencies (NGAs), Local Government Units (LGUs) and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) including subsidiaries and affiliates; and Other matters/concerns where deadlines have been imposed or under the orders of the Commissioner of internal Revenue; and
  • (b) in case of re-issuance/s to replace previously issued LOA/s due to change of revenue officer and/or group supervisors.

TAXPAYERS ENGAGED IN THE EXPORT OF GOODS AND SERVICES, ELECTRONIC COMMERCE (E-COMMERCE) AND LARGE TAXPAYERS ARE MANDATED TO ISSUE ELECTRONIC RECEIPTS OR SALES/COMMERCIAL INVOICE. (Rev. Regs. 8-2022)

The BIR prescribes policies and guidelines for the implementation of the use of the Electronic invoicing/receipting System (EIS)

SALES AND PURCHASE DATA GENERATED AND VERIFIED THRU ELECTRONIC INVOICING/RECEIPTING SYSTEM (EIS) ARE ADMISSIBLE AT THE TIME OF AUDIT OR INVESTIGATION OR VERIFICATION OF THE TAXPAYER. (Rev. Regs. No. 9-2022)

• The BIR prescribes the policies and guidelines for the admissibility of sales documents in electronic format.
•  Sales and purchase data (generated and verified thru EIS) are admissible at the time of audit or investigation or verification of the taxpayer.
  •  Sales/purchase  must comply with information/data requirements under the rules;
  •  Zero-rated stamping is no longer necessary since sales shall be reported to EIS for each classification (VATable, zero-rated and exempt)
• Submission of printed copies of sales invoice or receipts shall no longer be required.
  •   TP must be duly authorized to use the EIS.
  •   EIS may be either web-based format or through Application Programming Interface (API) transmission of sales data.
• Submission of printed invoice/receipts for purchases shall no longer be required.
  •  Suppliers must be using web-based  issuance in the EIS or via SDTS
  •  The purchase data must be validated in the EIS for purposes of input VAT and deductibility of expenses
  •  If not reported in the EIS by the supplier, the sales shall be considered unreported and subject to further investigation
  •  Original form or digital copies, whichever is applicable must be retained in case of demand for verification of data.
• Taxpayers may be required to present/submit hard copies of the receipts or invoices or allowed access to the CAS, under the following instances:
  •   Missing or vague details the invoice/receipts that were transmitted to the EIS, which the investigating revenue officer needs further clarification;
  •   Information are not included in the data required to be transmitted to the EIS;
  •   Validation of export sales data during the verification of VAT refund claims;
  •   Taxpayer is under fraud investigation;
  •   Skipped or missing series in the invoices or receipts issued; and/or
  •   Other instances as may be determined by the CIR
• Sampling may be allowed.
• BIR may access the CAS or POS/CRM machines under EIS to validate whether sales transmitted to EIS matches the sales recorded in the system.
• If taxpayer refuses access to the CAS, the BIR may employ alternative means to verify the records of the taxpayer.
  •  Refusal may also result in possible disallowances or assessments
  •   Violation of revenue regulations on maintenance, retention and submission of electronic records (RR9-2009), may result in the prosecution of the taxpayer.
  •   Acknowledgement Certificate or Permit to Use CAS may also be revoked.
•   Sales and purchases not covered by this regulation shall comply with rules for manual verification of sales and purchases.

BIR RULINGS

• Joint venture or consortium formed for the purpose of undertaking construction projects or engaging in petroleum, coal, geothermal and other energy operations pursuant to an operating or consortium agreement under a service contract with the Government is not taxable as a corporation provided that the joint venture complied with the conditions provided in RR No. 10-2012. (BIR Ruling No: Certificate of Tax Exemption No: JV-128-2022)
• Income or gain derived by employees from their exercise of the stock options is considered as additional compensation subject to income tax and consequently to withholding tax on compensation. However, if the said stock option is granted to employees holding supervisorial and/or managerial position shall be subject to fringe benefits tax. (BIR Ruling No: OT-130-2022)
• Income derived by the inventor from technologies and invention is exempt from income tax. In addition, the government’s purpose of enacting the Inventors and Inventions Incentives Act is to provide incentives to inventors and protect their exclusive right to the invention, particularly when it is beneficial to the people and contributes to national development and process. (BIR Ruling No: INV-131-2022)
• All contracts, deeds, documents and transactions entered into by the BSP which are related to the conduct of its business are exempt from the payment of DST. (BIR Ruling No: OT-132-2022)
• Transfer of subdivided lots in favor of a housing member-beneficiaries of homeowners’ association is exempt from CGT and CWT considering that the transfer is only a formality to finally effect the transfer of the property to the member-beneficiaries who bought the property from the former owner through the association. In other words, the Association is merely transferring the ownership of the property to its member-beneficiaries who actually own them.
  • Moreover, the transfer is exempt from donor’s tax as there is no donative intent on the part of the association to donate the property to the members-beneficiaries, considering that it could not donate the property the ownership of which already belongs to the members-beneficiaries.
  •  It is not also subject to DST. However, the notarial acknowledgment of the deed of conveyance is subject to the DST of P30.00. (BIR Ruling No: CMP-134-2022)
• Importation of a cargo vessel destined for domestic transport operations shall be exempt from VAT. Provided that the VAT exemptions shall be subject to the requirements on restriction vessel importation and mandatory vessel retirement program of MARINA. (BIR Ruling No: Certificate of Tax Exemption No: VAT-127-2022)
• Sale of house and lot duly registered with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board is exempt from income tax and creditable withholding tax on its income received directly in connection with the mentioned project. In addition to that, sale of house and lot and other residential dwellings with selling price of not more than Php 3,199,200 is VAT exempted. (BIR Ruling No: Certificate of Tax Exemption No: PSH-129-2022)
  •  Sale of house and lot under economic and low-cost housing project of a company duly registered with the Board of Investments under Executive Order (EO) No. 226 is exempt from income tax and creditable withholding tax on its income received directly in connection with the mentioned project. In addition to that, sale of house and lot and other residential dwellings with selling price of not more than Php 3,199,200 is VAT exempted. (BIR Ruling No: Certificate of Tax Exemption No:, BOI-LEH-120-2022)
  • Sale of house and lot duly registered with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is exempt from income tax and creditable withholding tax on its income received directly in connection with the mentioned project. In addition to that, sale of house and lot and other residential dwellings with selling price of not more than Php 3,199,200 is VAT exempted. (BIR Ruling No: Certificate of Tax Exemption No: PSH-121-2022)