BIR Ruling

October 22, 1975 Mr. Bienvenido E. Somera Regional Coordinator concurrently OIC Regional Office No. 03 Social Security System SSS Bldg., East Avenue Diliman, Quezon City S i r : In reply to your letter dated October 17, 1975, I regret to have to inform you that your request for certified xerox copies of the list of employees and their corresponding earnings which were allegedly submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue pursuant to the requirements of Section 77 of the Tax Code by Sun Life Hardware, 328 EDSA, Pasay City, cannot be granted in view of the prohibition under Section 347 of the Tax Code, quoted hereunder as follows: "SEC. 347. Unlawful divulgence of trade secrets . Except as provided in Section 81 of this Code and Section 26 of Republic Act Numbered Six Thousand Three Hundred Eighty-Eight, any officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue who divulges to any person or makes known in any other manner than may be provided by law information regarding the business, income, or inheritance of any taxpayer, the secrets operations, styles of work, or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer, or confidential information regarding the business of any taxpayer, knowledge of which was acquired by him in the discharge of his official duties, 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." cdta Very truly yours, (SGD.) EFREN I. PLANA Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue TAN-1456-040-3