216 tax examiners face administrative charges

An additional 216 tax examiners may be slapped with administrative charges if they fail to explain to Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay why they failed to submit reports on investigations of alleged deficient taxpayers on time.

In a statement Friday, the BIR said Dulay ordered these examiners from 15 revenue regions “to explain to his satisfaction why they have failed to submit reports of investigation of tax cases assigned to them despite the lapse of a considerable period of time.”

The BIR pointed out that under Revenue Memorandum Order No. 69-2010, tax examiners have 180 days from the date of the authorizing document, such as the letter of authority or the letter notice, to conclude their investigation or verification of a taxpayers’ liabilities as well as submit the corresponding report detailing such.

A letter of authority is an official document that empowers revenue officers to examine and scrutinize taxpayers’ books in order to determine their correct tax liabilities.

According to the BIR, “the apparent delays in the investigation of cases had been a constant source of complaint from taxpayers and a fertile ground for corruption.”

The BIR said the most number of non-compliant tax examiners came from the revenue regions of Pampanga (49), Caloocan City (39) and San Pablo City (30).

“An aging of the letters of authority of this group showed tax cases that remained outstanding for a period of up to 4,028 days,” the BIR said.

Also, “at least 64 examiners in the list have held tax cases for at least 1,000 days and case loads of up to 35,” it added.

 Ben O. de Vera