The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has ordered all its audit offices nationwide to speed up the process of returning excess tax payments to claimants.
BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay issued Revenue Memorandum Order No. 47-2020 last week following request by commercial and service companies for the speedy approval of their refund claims which they urgently need in this period of unprecedented health crisis.
Many business taxpayers have been complaining about delays in the approval of refund applications which sometimes took years.
The BIR chief gave the specialized audit divisions in the national office and regional directors 90 days to approve, or deny such claims after the submission of official receipts, or invoices and other supporting documents.
The memorandum required claimants to first settle all outstanding liabilities before the claim is granted.
It also instructed audit officers to process claims that are higher than the tax debts.
It pointed out refund cases handled by the legal group in the national office are not covered by the memorandum.