Philippines: Letter of authority required to vest authority in new revenue officer (Supreme Court resolution)
The Supreme Court issued a resolution that only a letter of authority (LOA) can vest authority in a new revenue officer.
Letter of authority required to vest authority in new revenue officer
The Supreme Court issued a resolution (G.R. No. 249795, dated 29 November 2022) that only a letter of authority (LOA) can vest authority in a new revenue officer.
Summary
The tax authority took the position that Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) Nos. 08-2006 and 69-2010 provided that a referral memorandum, memorandum of assignment, or equivalent document can be issued in case of reassignment of revenue officers. The court held that the RMOs provided additional regulations in case of reassignment of revenue officers and did not remove the requirement for the issuance of an LOA. Rather, the memorandum of assignment, referral memorandum, or any equivalent document is issued for the purpose of reassignment and transfer of cases of revenue officers, and not to vest authority on a revenue officer to examine a taxpayer's books of accounts, which is the function of an LOA.
Further, the court noted that under RMO No. 43-90 there is a requirement that the continuation of a tax assessment or audit by a revenue officer, by someone other than the officer named in a previous LOA, requires the issuance of a new LOA. The lack of an LOA authorizing the new revenue officers to continue the audit of the taxpayer’s books of accounts render the resulting assessments void.
Read a February 2023 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in the Philippines
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