Engineer Renato O. Magisa

June 27, 2018 BIR RULING NO. 1029-18 Sections 270; 71; 20 of the 1997 National Internal Revenue Code, as amended; BIR Ruling Nos. 010-11, 211-15; RMC 50-2016 Engineer Renato O. Magisa B5, L20 Pisces St.,Camella III, Tunasan, 1770 Muntinlupa City Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated May 07, 2018 regarding the denial of the Committee on Rewards of the Department of Finance (DOF-COR Ruling No. 2017-03) on your claim for informer's reward under BIR Ruling No. M-001-2016, dated January 12, 2016. As a result, you are going to file a Complaint Affidavit to the Office of the President due to the unfavorable resolution. To support the complaint, you are now requesting the Bureau of Internal Revenue of the following: aScITE " THE EXISTENCE OF EJT TOWNHOUSE, INC. Certification regarding the permanent Corporate TIN of EJT TOWNHOMES, INC. including their past, present and LAST payments of Corporate Taxes; THE EXISTENCE OF RUBY UY TIU Ruby Uy Tiu birth date; x x x Certification with respect to the permanent personal TIN of RUBY UY TIU, her past, present or last payment of her income tax and/or current withholding tax." In reply, please be informed that information about a taxpayer's tax return is afforded the highest degree of confidentiality. No official or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) may divulge information regarding a tax return without violating Section 270 of the 1997 National Internal Revenue Code, as amended ("Tax Code"), which states that: " SEC. 270 . Unlawful Divulgence of Trade Secrets . 1 Except as provided in Sections 6 (F) and 71 of this Code and Section 26 of Republic Act No. 6388, 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 estate of any taxpayer, the secrets, operation, style or 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, upon conviction for each act or omission, be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) but not more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000),or suffer imprisonment of not less than two (2) years but not more than five (5) years, or both." While there are exceptions to the abovementioned provision of the Tax Code, none of them are availing under the facts as represented. Section 71 of the Tax Code states: DETACa " SECTION 71 . Disposition of Income Tax Returns, Publication of List of Taxpayers and Filers . After the assessment shall have been made, ...the returns, together with any corrections thereof which may have been made by the Commissioner, shall be filed in the Office of the Commissioner and shall constitute public records and be open to inspection as such upon the order of the President of the Philippines, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Finance, upon recommendation of the Commissioner ...." (emphasis supplied) On the other hand, Section 20 of the Tax Code, states that: " SECTION 20 . Submission of Pertinent Information to Congress . The provision of Section 270 of this Code to the contrary notwithstanding, the Commissioner shall, upon request of Congress and in aid of legislation, furnish its appropriate Committee pertinent information including but not limited to: industry audits, collection performance data, status reports in criminal actions initiated against persons and taxpayer's returns; Provided, however, That any return or return information which can be associated with, or otherwise identify, directly or indirectly, a particular taxpayer shall be furnished the appropriate Committee of Congress only when sitting in Executive Session unless such taxpayer otherwise consents in writing to such disclosure ." (emphasis supplied) It is evident from the above provision that BIR personnel cannot divulge information gained from taxpayers concerning the latter's business, income, or estate as well as the secrets, operation, style or work, or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer, or confidential information regarding the business of any taxpayer. Any documents containing these types of information in the BIR's possession are not considered as public documents but are in fact treated as confidential, in accordance with Section 270 of the same Tax Code. The divulgence of confidential information does not only erode the confidence of the taxpaying public in the reliability and ability of the BIR to safeguard the secrecy of the information, but also puts life and safety in danger. As such, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 50-2016, reminding its officials and employees that the unauthorized disclosure or divulgence of official or confidential information is criminally and administratively punishable by law and existing revenue issuances. The circular serves as a warning to revenue officials and employees that they will be held criminally and administratively liable if they violate the law. Moreover, under Republic Act (RA) No. 10173 otherwise known as "Data Privacy Act of 2012," the processing of sensitive personal information which is peculiar to an individual, such as TIN, is prohibited except in certain cases. The subject request however does not appear to be within the exceptions set forth under the said law. HEITAD In view thereof, as the exceptions do not apply under the facts as represented, we regret to inform you that under the strict mandate of the law, we cannot accede to your request for such information. (BIR Ruling No. 010-11 dated January 19, 2011) Very truly yours, (SGD.) CAESAR R. DULAY Commissioner of Internal Revenue Footnotes 1. As amended by RA 10021 (March 5, 2010) and implemented by Revenue Regulations No. 10-2010 (October 6, 2010) and Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 029-10 (March 19, 2010).