BIR readies VAT compliance notices for 4 firms

YU (CDN PHOTO / CHRISTIAN MANINGO)

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) regional office has prepared compliance notices for four establishments that have been found violating revenue laws.

Neri Yu, BIR 13 chief legal officer, said a VAT (value-added tax) Compliance Notice will be issued to an establishment which can’t give a valid reason for under-declaring sales.

The four establishments, which BIR has not identified, were sent notices to explain before the Holy Week.

Yu said they were just waiting for the four establishments to send their reply.

Under the BIR’s “Oplan Kandado” initiative, establishments that have been issued the notice must explain why they should not be dealt with by the agency administratively or criminally.

“Once they receive the notice, they have 48 hours, or two days, to make a reply. Then we give them five regular post days to send the reply to BIR,” he said.

Valid reasons for under declaration of sales include closing the establishment for a period of time resulting in no sales, Yu said.

Once BIR 13 receives the responses, the review board, headed by the regional director, will immediately assess the establishment’s reasons for under declaration.

If the reasons are found to be not valid, or if no reply was sent to BIR, the establishment will be issued a VAT Compliance Notice (VCN).

Along with the VCN, the regional office will also provide a copy of its findings during the surveillance operations that were conducted, Yu added.

“We are already preparing the VCNs, just in case, so we can expedite the proceedings,” he said.

Failure to pay the correct dues stipulated in BIR-13’s findings will result in the temporary closure of the establishment.

Under  Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 3-2009 issued on January 23, 2009, the grounds for suspension or temporary closure of business are failure to issue receipts or invoices by a VAT registered or registrable tax payer, failure to file a VAT return, understatement of taxable sales or receipts by 30 percent or more of the correct amount thereof in the case of a VAT registered or registrable tax payer, or failure to register.

The “Oplan Kandado” program is being intensified by BIR 13 in an effort to meet the P36.36-billion collection target this year, about 43 percent higher than last year’s target of P25.4 billion.

Nationwide, BIR targets to collect P2.025 trillion. /Correspondent Vanessa Claire Lucero