BIR Ruling No. 128-95 dated August 25, 1995 Does Not Authorize the Issuance of Pre-Signed ATAP in Blank

November 7, 1997 BIR RULING NO. 118-97 128-95 118-97 Atty. Francis R. Guzman Revenue District Officer Revenue District Office No. 41 Mandaluyong City S i r : This refers to your letter dated January 31, 1997 requesting for the revocation of BIR Ruling No. 128-95 dated August 25, 1995 where this Office held that "xxx xxx xxx" "In connection therewith, you are requesting authority to allow SMC to secure from the RDO Mandaluyong presigned ATAP good for one week to be replenished every Tuesday thereafter; that you would like to emphasize that there is no prejudice to the government assuming that SMC will not make use of any or all of the ATAP; that SMC will be at the losing end as it will bear the heavy penalties imposed by law (surcharge, interest and compromise penalty) for non-payment or delay in the payment of ad valorem taxes on daily removals of beer; and that to allay any fear the government may have, SMC shall fax on a daily basis, to the RDO Mandaluyong, copy of the ATAP duly acknowledged and validated by the bank and submit liquidation of all ATAP's secured for the week prior to the succeeding weekly withdrawal of ATAP. cdt "In reply thereto, please be informed that in view of the aforementioned justifiable reasons your request is hereby granted. SMC can secure from the RDO of Mandaluyong presigned ATAP good for one week to be replenished every Tuesday thereafter and that SMC shall fax on a daily basis, to the RDO of Mandaluyong, copy of the ATAP duly acknowledged and validated by the bank and submit liquidation of all ATAP's secured for the week prior to the succeeding weekly withdrawal of ATAP." that your request for the revocation of a said ruling is based on the following grounds: "1. The payor corporation (San Miguel Corporation) shall have full discretion on how much excise tax to pay. This means that while the Bureau has not had the chance to verify the basis of payment, the taxpayer is able to dictate the amount of tax to be paid for the succeeding days, weeks, months, quarters (or years). Under this arrangement, the RDO signs blank ATAPs in advance. "2. The possibilities of tax compliance is almost nil. The monitoring system to track collection of excise tax cannot be effectively carried out because SMC prepares the details of payment (handwritten) of the pre-signed ATAP and report their tax payments weekly. (Annex "A" and Annex "B") "3. We will lose the psychological impact in monitoring the daily tax payment performance of SMC. The psychological effect of daily monitoring the tax payment compliance of excisable business establishments will play a very important role in effectively administering our tax collection efforts. "4. This shall translate eventually into decreased tax collection. . . ." In reply thereto, please be informed that BIR Ruling No . 128-95 dated August 25 , 1995 does not authorize the issuance of pre-signed ATAP in blank . The SMC can secure from the RDO of Mandaluyong City presigned ATAP good for one week to be replenished every Tuesday thereafter, but SMC has to inform the BIR in advance of the quantity of its daily removals of beer from all its plants. Moreover, SMC shall fax on a daily basis, to the RDO of Mandaluyong, copy of the ATAP duly acknowledged and validated by the bank and submit liquidation of all ATAP's secured for the week prior to the succeeding weekly withdrawal of ATAP. (BIR Ruling No. 128-95 dated August 25, 1995) Very truly yours, LIWAYWAY VINZONS-CHATO Commissioner of Internal Revenue