PASAY CITY, Philippines — Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Charlie Mendoza pledged to eradicate abuses surrounding Letters of Authority (LOA) and audit irregularities, outlining a series of operational overhauls during a Senate budget hearing.
Speaking on Tuesday, September 22, during the Senate Finance Committee’s deliberation on the Department of Finance’s (DOF) proposed ₱32.034-billion budget for 2027, Mendoza stated that the internal reforms stem from findings uncovered by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
Mendoza highlighted key changes designed to eliminate corruption opportunities during tax audits:
- Single Annual Issuance: Taxpayers will now receive a maximum of one LOA per year, covering all tax types to prevent multiple audits.
- Automated Selection: The choice of taxpayers subject to audit is now strictly system-generated, stripping individual BIR personnel of discretionary power to select targets.
- Abolition of Specialized Units: The agency has dissolved the VAT audit unit and instituted LOA verifiers to assist taxpayers—especially those in remote locations—in confirming the legitimacy of served notices.
- Standardized Guidelines: A new Revenue Memorandum Order and overhauled audit program were instituted earlier this year to standardize examiner procedures.
“These are just some of the reforms, significant reforms, that we implemented and we are focusing on these because it has become the cause of friction among our taxpayers and the BIR,” Mendoza stated.
“Rest assured po, we are continually addressing the concerns of our taxpayers,” he added.
Responding to inquiries from Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go regarding ongoing corruption, Mendoza admitted that isolated misconduct may still occur, but affirmed that the agency does not condone illegal practices.
He noted that several personnel identified in previous abuses are already facing internal administrative charges, and he urged the public to report corrupt officers immediately.
Ejercito stressed the importance of revenue integrity in sustaining national economic stability.
“As our economic and fiscal needs continue to be challenging, we must ensure that our country remains in a stable and sustainable fiscal position. And we owe it to the Filipino taxpayers to ensure that every peso requested is a peso efficiently and responsibly spent,” Ejercito said.