Verification of Tax Compliance of Applicants for BIR-Importer's Clearance Certificate and BIR-Broker's Clearance Certificate for Accreditation Purposes with the Bureau of Customs

February 5, 2015 OPERATIONS MEMORANDUM NO. 1-2015 TO : All Regional Directors All Revenue District Officers All Chiefs, Legal Division All Chiefs, Collection Divisions SUBJECT : Verification of Tax Compliance of Applicants for BIR-Importer's Clearance Certificate and BIR-Broker's Clearance Certificate for Accreditation Purposes with the Bureau of Customs It has come to the attention of this Office that delays in the submission of the requested tax compliance verification pursuant to the provisions of Revenue Memorandum Order No. 10-2014, as amended, is caused by the applicants' non-compliance with the prescribed criteria in order to qualify for the issuance of the Importer's Clearance Certificate (ICC)/Broker's Clearance Certificate (BCC). Some concerned offices are waiting for the applicant's compliance ( e.g., comply with the stop-filer cases, settle the tax liabilities, submit the necessary annual information returns, enroll in the electronic filing and payment system, etc.) before they accomplish the questionnaire attached in the Request for Verification (RFV) sent by the Accounts Receivable Monitoring Division (ARMD). As a consequence, ARMD could not act immediately on the submitted applications for ICC/BCC. ITAaHc In view of the foregoing observation, you are hereby directed to accomplish immediately the aforesaid questionnaire within five (5) days from receipt hereof based on the current applicant's tax compliance (compliant or not) without the need to wait for the taxpayer to comply with the specific requirements and submit the same within the 5-day allotted period to the ARMD so that the latter could already render its decision on whether to approve or disapprove the application based on the prescribed criteria. Non-submission of the questionnaire within the 5-day period will mean that the concerned taxpayer-applicant has tax issue/concerns/problem with the District/Region concerned, thus, the application for ICC/BCC will be denied. It is expected that once applications for ICC/BCC of non-compliant taxpayers have been denied by ARMD, these taxpayers will go back to their respective district offices for purposes of satisfying all the compliance criteria set forth under existing issuances. For prospective applicants for ICC/BCC, particularly those who will file application after the effectivity of RMO 1-2015, and those already issued Provisional ICC/BCC and will qualify for the issuance of ICC/BCC pursuant to RMO 33-2014, however, ARMD will no longer be sending the RFVs to all concerned offices. Instead, the applicant/taxpayer will directly go to your respective offices to secure the required certifications prescribed under RMO No. 1-2015. For your guidance and strict compliance. (SGD.) KIM S. JACINTO-HENARES Commissioner of Internal Revenue