Special InTAX: March 2021 Issue 1 | Volume 1

Bureau of Internal Revenue

 

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued the following:

Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 26-2021, 24 February 2021, to extend the deadline of submission of the summary of listing of all pre-existing loans, pledges and other instruments which were granted extension of payment and/or maturity periods to 31 March 2021, to give covered institutions ample time to submit to the Revenue District Office (RDO)/Large Taxpayers Service/Large Taxpayers District Office where the taxpayer is registered.

The required covered institutions* shall submit the said summary in hard and soft copy, in relation to Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 24-2020 implementing Section 4(uu) of Republic Act No. 11494, otherwise known as the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” on the exemption from Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) of loans extended or credits restructured granted by covered institutions for loans falling due, or any part thereof, on or before 31 December 2020. 

 

*Covered institutions under RR No. 24-2020 refer to all lenders, including but not limited to banks, quasi-banks, financing companies, lending companies, real estate developers, insurance companies providing life insurance policies, pre-need companies, entities providing in-house financing for goods and properties purchased, asset and liabilities management companies and other financial institutions under the supervision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), public and private, including the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Social Security System (SSS) and Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund).

 

Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 9-2021, 19 February 2021, to provide guidelines and procedures on the use of the Computerized Accounting System (CAS), Computerized Books of Accounts (CBA), and/or its Components, including the Electronic Storage System (ESS), Middleware and other similar systems (collectively referred herein as “System”), particularly on the processing of the Application for Permit to Use (PTU).

The Order shall be applicable to any of the following:

1.  All Large Taxpayers (LTs) who are mandated to use or manage CAS conforming to RR No. 9-2009;

2. All Non-Large Taxpayers (Non-LTs) engaged in business who opted to use CAS, CBA and components of CAS or CBA; and,

3.  Taxpayers engaged in business who shall use ESS, Middleware and other similar systems.

Guidelines on the Registration of “System”

1.   All taxpayers mentioned above shall inform and register with the RDO/LT Office where they are registered and expressed their intention to use such system by submitting the requirements stated in Annex A or the Checklist of Documentary Requirements (CDR) of the Order. However, it is mandatory that the system to be adopted shall still strictly comply with the Standard Functional and Technical Requirements or Annex B of the Order.

2.   All documents in relation to the application for the Registration of the “System” shall be submitted either manually or via e-mail. The Sworn Statement (Annex C) with the attached Annex C-1 or the Summary of System Description, Forms/Records and Reports Specification and the accomplished Annex B shall be submitted to the respective RDO/LT Office where the Head Office (HO) of the taxpayer is registered, except under the following circumstances:

a.  If the Branch Office of the taxpayer adopts the “System” ahead of its HO, the application for registration shall be filed at the RDO where the Branch Office is registered with a Certification from the RDO where the HO is registered that it has yet to use the system/software.

In the event that the HO shall subsequently adopt the same “System” which was previously adopted by the Branch Office and duly registered with the RDO where the branch was registered, new registration documents shall be submitted by the HO to its RDO and a new Acknowledgement Certificate (AC – Annex D in the attached) shall be issued to the Head office.

b.   If the Branch Office of the taxpayer adopts a “System” from the other branches and its HO, the application shall be filed at the RDO where the Branch Office is registered and a separate AC for the branch shall be subsequently issued.

3.  The concerned RDO shall issue an AC within 3 working days upon receipt of the complete documentary requirements prescribed herein. Also, the AC shall only be valid unless revoked by the BIR upon discovery of its non-compliance with the provision of the Order.

In case there are discrepancies in the information provided in the submitted documentary requirements, a Notice/Letter of Denial (Annex F) shall be received from the Client Support Section.

4.  The said Order also prescribes that affiliated companies, sister companies, franchises, closely held corporations and other similar companies related to a parent company shall register the “System” to be used with the RDOs/LT Office where the aforesaid companies are registered.

5.  No system demonstration nor pre-evaluation shall be conducted as a condition for the registration of the  “System”. However, the Sworn Statement may be subject to clarification on certain features indicated in such Sworn Statement by the RDO and may also be subject to an amendment should there be items that need to be included or clarified.

6.  Prior to the effectivity of the contract between the taxpayer and the Tax Service Providers (TSPs) or third-party software provider, taxpayers who will avail such services of  the TSP for the use of a system/software must also register such system with the BIR. Both parties (i.e., the taxpayer and the TSP or third-party software provider) must also submit a Joint Sworn Statement (Annex E) with attached Annex C-1. Further, both parties must state in their Joint Sworn Statement that the system/software has no facility or other technical scheme that may affect sales/income for the purpose of taxation.

The taxpayer who availed the services of the TSPs shall be required to keep and maintain accounting records and other relevant financial data for a period of 10 years in their principal place of business, pursuant to the provisions of RR No. 5-2014. Also, such records shall be made available to the BIR during audit or other enforcement activities that will be conducted by the authorized Revenue Officer of the BIR. Moreover, in case of termination of contract, such taxpayer shall notify the RDO with jurisdiction over the place of business prior to the termination/expiration of contract with the provider. In this regard, such contract shall automatically cancel the registration of “System”.

7.  Taxpayers with application for Accreditation of Cash Register Machines (CRMs)/Point of Sale (POS) System and other sales receipting system that will be linked to a duly registered “System”, shall be processed following the provision on the accreditation and subsequent registration of the CRMs/POS Machines based on existing revenue issuances.

The said order also prescribes that registration of the CRMs/POS Machines and Other Sales Receipting System/ Software shall be different from the registration of the “System”. As such, salient details of the CRMs/POS Machines that will be linked to any “System” must be declared by the taxpayer in the Annexes of the Sworn Statement at the time of the registration of such System such as the following:

a.   POS Server / Machine Details (i.e., Brand, Model, and/or Serial Number); Software Details (i.e., Software Name and Version Number with Release Number, if applicable); Machine Identification Number (MIN) and Permit To Use (PTU) Number; and,

b.   Terminal Details – Machine Details

8.   In case of major system enhancement, the taxpayer must submit an update of registration following the provision of filing a new application such as, but not limited to, any of the following:

a.  Change in the functionalities of the system, particularly on enhancements that will have a direct effect on the financial aspect of the system that includes modified computations and other financial-related issues that were considered;

b.  Addition or Removal of modules or sub-modules within the system that will have a direct impact on the financial aspect of the system;

c.  Change in the system/software Version or Release Number that will have enhancements on the financial aspect of the system; and

d.  All other enhancements that will be deemed as a major system enhancement based on the recommendation of the technical evaluators of the BIR.

Taxpayers who are found to have used an enhanced/upgraded “System” without informing the BIR prior to the use of the “System” shall be subjected to the applicable penalty.

9.  In case of minor enhancements, e.g., user interface modification, bug fixes, performance improvements etc., the taxpayer must submit a written notification stating the specific minor enhancement on the system to the RDO/LT Office where he/she is registered.

Use of Receipts/Invoices

1.    Taxpayers with duly registered “System”, without system-generated principal and/or supplementary receipts/invoices, should apply for Authority to Print (ATP) based on existing revenue issuances. On the other hand, taxpayers applying for registration of their “System” that will use system-generated supplementary receipts/invoices but with manual BIR-approved principal receipts/invoices (with ATP), shall likewise be declared in the Sworn Statement and in its Annexes.

2.   In case of system downtime, taxpayers with duly registered “System” who are using computer-generated receipts/invoices with a system that has no redundancy or automatic switchover, shall be allowed to issue a manual principal and/or supplementary receipts/invoices. However, such manual receipts/invoices with approved ATP reserved or set aside for use during system downtime should not exceed one thousand (1,000) sets at a time.

It should be noted that system-generated principal and/or supplementary receipts/invoices must comply with the mandatory information required under Section 5 of RR No. 10-2015, as amended by RR No. 16-2018, except for the following which are applicable only to CRM/POS Machines:

•   Machine Identification Number (MIN);
•   Serial Number of the CRM/POS Machine; and
•   Accreditation Details of the CRM/POS Supplier.

Books of Accounts

1.   The taxpayers (Large and Non-Large) shall use books of accounts depending on its business requirements and must comply with the bookkeeping requirements and information prescribed under RR No. 9-2009.

2.   Soft copy of the Computerized Books of Accounts and Other Accounting Records shall be registered with the RDO/LT Office where the HO/Branch is registered within 30 calendar days from the close of the taxable year. It shall be in Standard Audit File (SAF) in compliance with RR No. 16-2006, as amended, contained in a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Drive or other electronic storage devices, properly labeled with the name of the taxpayer and the taxable year.

A transmittal letter showing the detailed content of the USB Drive label shall also be provided and submitted by the taxpayer and the same must be duly stamped, registered and signed at the RDO/LT Office with the same jurisdiction over the HO and Branch Office. Should the taxpayer register an unaudited Book of Accounts and Other Accounting Records, the Auditor’s Adjustment shall be submitted in soft copy.

Further, electronically archived information of books of accounts and other accounting records/documents must be retained pursuant to existing revenue issuances.

Transitory Provisions

All taxpayers with pending applications for PTU, CAS, CBA, and/or its Components which were filed with the National Accreditation Board (NAB) as of 23 February 2020 shall be processed under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 10-2020. All applications filed thereafter shall be processed following the provisions stated in this Order. Further, those taxpayers with duly approved PTU as of the effectivity of this Order shall remain valid unless the issued PTU has been revoked/expired or the system has been enhanced without complying with the requirements in Section V (8) of this Order.

 

Attached are the full texts of the issuances.

Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 26-2021

Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 9-2021