BIR Ruling

December 22, 1971 Mr. Feliciano Macaraeg c/o The Manila Times Publishing Co., Inc. Florentino Torres Street Manila S i r : In reply to your letter dated December 7, 1971, requesting that you be furnished a copy of the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for the period covering 1965-70 of Revenue Examiner Priscillo Puno, I regret to inform you that the same cannot be granted in view of Section 6 of R.A. No. 2070, as amended by R.A. No. 5268, quoted as follows: "Sec. 6. No information in the tax register shall be published except in the form of tabulations or summaries having no reference to individuals. "Any such officer or employee who shall divulge to any unauthorized person information regarding the business, income, or inheritance of any taxpayer, the secrets, operation, style of work or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer, or confidential information, knowledge of which was acquired by him in the discharge of his official duties under the provisions of this Act, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding two thousand pesos or imprisoned for a term of not less then six months nor more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the Court, except in such instances where the information regarding the business, income, or inheritance of any taxpayer, the secrets, operation, style of work, or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer or confidential information is false or fraudulent, and then constitutes in itself a violation of the preceding section, which case the obligation to reveal same to any duly constituted investigating body will exempt the officer or employee from any liability. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prevent Congress or any legislative committee to require the production of any statement referred to herein when relevant to the issues or matters subject to legislative investigation, for proper remedial or additional legislation: Provided , however , That no person who files the tax census statement required in this Act shall be prosecuted or subjected to any prosecution by using the statement or information therein contained as evidence against him except cases involving violation of this law." aisa dc Very truly yours, MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue