BIR Ruling

August 24, 1966 Mr. Ponciano V. Fernando Assistant Officer-in-Charge National Bureau of Investigation Taft Ave., Manila S i r : This refers to your letter dated July 28, 1966 requesting legal opinion on the following query: "A printing press company intentionally failed to issue receipts or invoices for payments received in consideration for sales of printed labels. This non-issuance of receipts or invoices, penalized by our National Internal Revenue Code, was committed on numerous occasions in 1965 and 1966 in relation to sales made to different patrons or customers. "May the manager and other responsible officer of the company be subjected to one charge for every non-issuance of receipt or invoice or are they to be prosecuted for a single crime by consolidating all the non-issuances of receipts or invoices?" In reply, I have the honor to inform you that the person or persons responsible for the repeated non-issuance of receipts or invoices may be charged with only one crime. These omissions to issue receipts or invoices is a continuing offense. A continuing offense is a continuous unlawful act or series of acts set forth by a single impulse. (L.B. Reyes, the Revised Penal Code, p. 578) Apparently, the repeated failure on the part of the officers concerned, to issue the said receipts or invoices is a product of a single impulse resulting from the desire to evade the payment of taxes. Although there is a series of acts, there is only one crime committed. Hence, only one penalty shall be imposed. (The Revised Penal Code, supra ) In this connection it may be stated that the above-described omission is punishable under Section 352 of the National Internal Revenue Code in relation to Chapter IV of Revenue Regulations No. V-1 as amended, otherwise known as the Bookkeeping Regulations, the pertinent portion of which provides as follows: "Chapter IV. Invoices or Receipts . All persons subject to an internal revenue tax shall for each sale or transfer of merchandise or services rendered valued at two pesos or more, prepare and issue sale or commercial invoices or receipts serially numbered in duplicate, showing, among other things, their names or style, if any, and business addresses: . . ." cdll Very truly yours, (SGD.) MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue