Supreme Court strikes down RR 2-12

 Economy
Feb 082017
 

It is a basic rule that regulations may not enlarge, alter, restrict, or otherwise go beyond the provisions of the law they administer; administrators and implementors cannot engraft additional requirements not contemplated by the legislature.
Five years ago, as a response to reports of smuggling of petroleum and petroleum products, and to ensure that correct taxes are paid and collected, the Secretary of Finance, pursuant to his authority to interpret tax laws and upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR), issued Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 2-2012.

To lump payees in the alphalist or not: that is the question

 Economy
Sep 222014
 

AT THE start of the year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Regulations No. (RR) 1-2014 and Revenue Memorandum Circular No. (RMC) 5-2014, which tackled the submission of the alphabetical list (alphalist) of employees and list of payees on income payments subject to creditable and final withholding taxes of all withholding agents. These issuances require that complete names of payees be specified in the alphalists. Using words such as “various payees” and “PCD nominees” where income payments and taxes withheld are lumped into one single amount shall not be allowed and failure to follow such prescribed format shall disqualify the related expenses from being deductible for income tax purposes.

BSP to remain vigilant against inflation risks

 Economy
Apr 102014
 
BSP to remain vigilant against inflation risks

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the continued slowdown of inflation in March, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said it remains vigilant amid risks that could cause an uptick in the rise of commodity prices. “Clearly, while we see inflation falling within the target range this year and next, there are additional challenges to our operating environment this year relative to last year,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said in an e-mailed statement. Inflation eased for a second month to 3.9 percent in March on the back of lower price increases for housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels. This puts the three-month average to 4.1 percent, above the midpoint of the central bank’s three to five percent target range. “Inflation has slowed over the last two months. However, the upside risks to inflation that we have mentioned before still remain,” Tetangco said. “In particular, we note potential price pressures that could emanate from increases in power rates, higher food prices and potential volatility in oil prices are still present,” he added. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “The uncertainty as to when supply-side pressures will dissipate also highlights the potential risk of second-round effects,” Tetangco noted. The BSP, mandated to keep prices stable, last month kept key policy rates stable amid inflation expectations seen falling within target. However, monetary authorities hiked banks’ reserve requirement (RR) ratio by one percent age point due to the sustained high domestic liquidity growth seen since July. “[W]e continue to be mindful Read More …

The right to due process in a tax assessment

 Economy
Mar 052014
 

THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) has the gargantuan task of collecting P1.4 trillion in tax revenue for 2014. Consequently, various revenue issuances have been circulated to enhance tax compliance and intensify collection efforts. One such issuance is Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 11-2014, clarifying certain issues arising from amendments introduced by Revenue Regulations No. 18-2013 on RR 12-99 relative to the tax assessment process. In fine-tuning policy interpretations, the RMC raises several points of interest.

Kaizen: BIR style

 Economy
Dec 112013
 

KAIZEN is a Japanese concept for continuous improvement. Literally, the word means “improvement” or “betterment”, but some may expand this to “the act of making bad points better”. With the issuance of Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 18-2013 on Nov. 28, it seems that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has dipped into kaizen by leveraging on past experience. RR 18-2013 amends certain provisions of RR 12-1999, the implementing regulations that contain the BIR’s procedures on issuing deficiency tax assessments.

Severe consequences of failure to withhold

 Economy
Aug 262013
 

REVENUE Regulations No. (RR) 12-2013, which were issued more than a month ago, made a drastic impact on some taxpayers. Many got panicked and were upset by the sudden change while others remained skeptical on the seriousness of the intent of the regulation and immediately took precautionary measures to mitigate the impact of the issuance on their businesses.