Publishing Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) Memorandum Dated July 13, 1989, and Prescribing Guidelines for an Effective Monitoring and Investigation of Excise and Income Tax Payments on Mineral, Forest and Rattan Products

September 24, 1991 REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 77-91 SUBJECT : Publishing Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) Memorandum Dated July 13, 1989, and Prescribing Guidelines for an Effective Monitoring and Investigation of Excise and Income Tax Payments on Mineral, Forest and Rattan Products TO : All Regional Directors, Revenue District Officers, Chiefs of Excise Tax Area, and Others Concerned For the information and guidance of all concerned, there is published hereunder the full text of Department of Environment & Natural (DENR) Memorandum dated July 13, 1989 directed to all DENR Regional Executive Directors: cdt "DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES July 13, 1989 MEMORANDUM To : All Regional Executive Directors Attention : All Community Environment and Natural Resources Officers From : The Undersecretary for Field Operations You are hereby instructed to furnish the nearest Bureau of Internal Revenue District Officer copies of all issued Certificates of Origin of Mineral Ores (for income and mining tax purposes) and Certificates of Origin of Forest Products and Rattan Products (for income tax purposes) and copies of reports of confiscation of Ores or products transported without such certificates. For compliance. (Sgd.) VICTOR O. Ramos Undersecretary" The above Memorandum was issued in response to the letter-request of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Under the said DENR Memorandum, transporters/shippers of mineral ores are now required by the DENR to cover every shipment with a Certificate of Origin of Mineral Ores (COMO) issued by DENR Regional Director or other DENR officials upon application with the local DENR Office. Mineral ores transported without such certificate are subject to confiscation by DENR officers. Similar requirement and sanction are provided for every transport/ shipment of forest or rattan products. In line with the foregoing requirements and sanctions imposed by the DENR, the following guidelines are to be strictly complied with by all concerned, for an effective monitoring and investigation of payment/ non-payment of excise and income tax due on mineral, forest and rattan products: 1) Upon receipt of copies of issued certificates of Origin of Mineral Ore or reports of confiscation of mineral ores transported without cover of COMOs, the Revenue District Officer shall immediately transmit said copies to the Chief, Excise Tax Area in the Revenue Regional Office; xerox copies thereof and copies of Certificates of Forest Products (or their equivalents, Certificates of Timber Origin, CTOs, and Certificates of Lumber Origin, CLOs) and related confiscation reports, as well as Certificates of Rattan products (or their equivalent) and related confiscation reports, shall likewise be transmitted simultaneously, to the Chief of the Intelligence & Investigation Office, National Office, Quezon City. 2) In case of delay in transmittal, the RDO or his representative shall secure every week, copies of consecutively-issued COMOs, CTOs, CLOs, CORPs, or chronologically-dated confiscation reports from the local DENR official. 3) Upon receipt of aforesaid copies, the Chief, Excise Tax Area, shall immediately coordinate with the local DENR office which issued the COMO or caused the confiscation of mineral ores, and shall verify the excise tax payments on the mineral ores covered by such certificates, or confiscated for lack of the required certificate. 4) Upon the termination of his verification, the Chief, Excise Tax Area shall submit without delay, a report of his findings to the Assistant Commissioner, Excise Tax Office, National Office Bldg., Quezon City, with a copy of the report furnished the Chief, of the IIO, National Office, Quezon City . acd 5) The Chief, of the IIO, upon receipt of the transmittal from the RDO, shall immediately order the appropriate investigation (in the case of confiscation, the inquiry shall establish the facts thereof, with confirmatory evidence from the local police, PC, LTO, Coast Guard, military or other government units; in the case of COMO-indicated payment of excise tax on mineral products, verification shall be made with the files in the Collection Officer's Office and Collection Branch in order to ferret out instances of double/multiple use of BIR Official Receipts, use of fake BIR ORs and similar fraudulent practices; and in case of non-payment of excise or income tax, the usual prescribed steps shall be taken to protect the interest of the government), with a copy of the report furnished the Assistant Commissioner of the Excise Tax Office, National Office, Quezon City. 6) The Chief, Excise Tax Area and the Chief of the Intelligence and Investigation Office, National Office, Quezon City shall make available and furnish copies of COMOs, CTOs, CLOs, CORPs reports of findings and other pertinent papers and documents necessary for the investigation of the income and business tax returns of mining and wood producing/processing companies by the Industry Audit Division, as per Revenue Administrative Order No. 5-88 dated January 21, 1988 without the need of prior request and approval from the CIR or his Deputies. All internal revenue officers and others concerned are enjoined to be guided accordingly and to give this Circular as wide a publicity as possible. This Circular takes effect immediately. (SGD.) JOSE U. ONG Commissioner of Internal Revenue