BIR Ruling

April 25, 1973 The Project Director Fund for Assistance to Private Education Atlas of Philippine Higher Education P.O. Box 947 Makati, Rizal M a d a m : This is in reply to your letter of the 23rd instant requesting the assistance of this Office in procuring the income and expenditure of educational institutions, by province and by level. It appears that you are gathering the above data for the ATLAS OF PHILIPPINE EDUCATION, a valuable planning book for school administration. cdtech As divulgence of information regarding the business, income, or inheritance of any taxpayer, the secrets, operation, style of work, or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer is prohibited by Section 347 of the Tax Code, you are hereby authorized to gather information and/or data pertaining to the gross income and expenditure of said taxpayers of the aggregate data pertaining to all of them but without linking or identifying the covered taxpayers in name to the data gathered. In this connection, it may be stated that, should you effect the publication of the figures you may together with the identities of the taxpayers concerned, you may held criminally liable under Section 349 of the Tax Code which for ready reference is reproduced, viz: "Sec. 349. Procuring unlawful divulgence of trade secrets . Any person who causes or procures an officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to divulge any confidential information regarding the business, income, or inheritance of any taxpayer, knowledge of which was acquired by him in the discharge of his official duties, and which it is unlawful for him to reveal, any person who publishes or prints in any manner whatever, not provided by law, any income, profits, losses, or expenditures appearing in any income tax return shall be fined in a sum of not more than two thousand pesos or imprisoned for a term of not less than six months nor more than five years, or both. This will serve as authority for all internal revenue officers concerned to furnish you the desired information subject to the abovestated limitations. Very truly yours, (SGD.) MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue