Business groups ready legal action vs BIR

Some business groups are now working on a legal action against Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for refusing to withdraw Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 54-2014.

Tax Management Association of the Philippines, Inc. president Rina Lorena Manuel said in an interview with reporters that the business groups are now exploring legal options against Henares’ decision and the RMC itself.

“There’s a team studying it right now [about the legal options we can pursue against RMC]. The group would still have to meet to explore that. [This week], we will make an announcement,” Manuel said.

Manuel explained that the existence of RMC 54-2014 could involve billions worth of money that businessmen from different sectors have long been waiting but might not be able to receive anymore.

“The difficult part for the business group is that it is an end-must denial of all the pending claims. They have long been waiting for it. They have long been processing it. They didn’t sleep [in getting these refunds]. It’s just that it’s taking the BIR a lot of time to process it and now with the RMC, it would all be automatically deemed denied,” she added.

Now, TMAP together with business groups such as chambers of commerce in the Philippines, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and United Coconut Associations of the Philippines Chairman, is planning to pursue legal action against BIR’s decision to keep RMC.

The cluster is joined by other business groups such as the Association of Certified Public Accountants in Public Practice, Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines, IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines, and the Management Association of the Philippines, among others.

The groups have been requesting the BIR to ease the RMC.

Under RMC, BIR has 120 days from the date of submission whether to grant or deny a company’s refund claim on its value-added taxes (VAT), which is a tax on the consumption charged on the sale, barter, exchange or lease of goods, properties, and services in the Philippines, as well as on the importation of goods.

If the BIR chief, for instance, failed to make a decision within the given period, the claim of the taxpayer will be “deemed denied” and the latter would only have 30 days to bring its refund request before the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA).

source:  Manila Bulletin