BIR Ruling [UN-179-94]

June 21, 1994 BIR RULING [UN-179-94] Mr. Donald Z. Marasigan Technical Staff Chief Committee on Ways & Means HP, Quezon City S i r : Your request dated April 13, 1994 for information as to the respective gross net incomes and income tax payments of the top 1,000 corporations for the years 1991 and 1992, without identifying the names of the corporations to be used in aid of legislation on the gross income approach on corporate taxation, is hereby granted. As divulgence of 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 is prohibited under Section 269 of the Tax Code as amended, this authority given you is limited to the gathering of date pertaining to each covered taxpayer or the aggregate data pertaining to all of them but without linking or identifying them in name to the data thus gathered/obtained. In this connection, it may be stated that, should you effect the publication of the figures you may obtain/gather together with the identities of the taxpayers concerned, you can be held criminally liable under Section 277 of the Tax Code which for ready reference is reproduced viz: cdtech "SEC. 277. 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, and 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 authorize the Assistant Commissioner, Information Systems and Operation Service (ISOS) to furnish you the information desired without identifying the names of the corporations. Very truly yours, LIWAYWAY VINZONS-CHATO Commissioner of Internal Revenue