Amending Certain Provisions of Revenue Memorandum Order No. 30-83 Dated September 22, 1983, Relative to the Refund of Excess Taxes Withheld on Individual Incomes and Prescribing the Guidelines and Procedures in the Verification of Tax Refunds

August 27, 1984 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 24-84 SUBJECT : Amending Certain Provisions of Revenue Memorandum Order No. 30-83 Dated September 22, 1983, Relative to the Refund of Excess Taxes Withheld on Individual Incomes and Prescribing the Guidelines and Procedures in the Verification of Tax Refunds TO : All Internal Revenue Officials, Withholding Agents and Others Concerned I. RATIONALE In order to ensure uniformity and objectivity in the issuance or release of income tax refunds to authorized representative and the verification of tax refunds by taxpayers, it is hereby directed that the following procedures/guidelines shall be followed by all concerned. II. AMENDMENTS A. The second paragraph of sub-item (3) under item (E) of paragraph I on General Policies of Revenue Memorandum Order No. 30-83, is hereby amended to read as follows: "In meritorious cases, and with the approval of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or Chief and Assistant Service Chief, Collection Office, or the Regional Director, or the Revenue District Officer, refunds may be claimed through an authorized representative of the refundee. The BIR Office affected shall advance a copy of the issued Authorization to the PNB Branches concerned which shall serve as the latter's authority to issue the refund to the authorized representative. Authorizations issued by a Regional Director or Revenue District Officer shall be valid only within their respective territorial jurisdictions. Corollary to this, they shall furnish specimens of their signatures to the PNB Branches within their jurisdictions." acd For this purpose, meritorious cases shall include, but not be limited, to the following: 1. Refundee is abroad, sick or physically incapacitated; 2. Refundee is already dead; and, 3. Others. For approval of such request, the following shall be observed: 1. Refundee is abroad, sick or physically incapacitated . a. The designated agent/representative must present an authenticated Special Power of Attorney. b. In case of Non-residency, adequate proof must be submitted such as xerox copy of appropriate pages of the passport, or alien registration card; whereas in case of sickness or physical incapacity, a Medical Certificate. The said requirements shall be in addition to the Special Power of Attorney. c. The BIR office affected shall verify the submitted documents and issue the Authorization for PNB to pay. d. The PNB Disbursing Office shall pay the Refund only when: i. Designated agent/representative submits the Special Power of Attorney, Authorization issued by the BIR Office concerned, and the (unexpired) Refund Notice. ii. Designated agent/representative presents identification papers, such as, but not limited to, Tax Account Number Card, Office ID, Driver's license, etc. 2. Refundee is Already Dead a. Death Certificate must be presented by any heir or judicially designated administrator. b. If the heir is the wife, the Marriage Certificate must be presented, or if any of the children of the deceased taxpayer, his birth certificate. In case of a judicially designated administrator, a copy of the court order. c. In addition to the above-requirements, the heir or judicially designated administrator shall be made to fill-up, in triplicate copies, a Letter of Undertaking (see Annex A), and submit the same to the BIR Office affected. The letter shall contain, among others, the name of the deceased refundee, name(s) and address(es) of heir(s) and a statement that the heir or judicially designated administrator shall include as part of the deceased's gross estate the total amount of the tax refund. In case the estate tax has been paid, a certified xerox copy of the proof of payment shall be submitted in addition to the letter of undertaking which shall contain a statement to the effect that an amended Estate Tax Return shall be filed reflecting the total amount of the tax refund. casia d. The BIR Office affected shall verify the submitted documents and issue the Authorization for PNB to pay. e. The BIR office affected shall transmit copies of the letter as follows: i. Real Estate and Transfer Taxes Division - one (1) copy ii. Revenue District Office where the deceased refundee had his legal residence or principal place of business one (1) copy. However, if filed with the Revenue District Office, one (1) copy should be transmitted to the Revenue Regional Office. f. The PNB Disbursing Office shall pay the Refund only when: i. Heir or judicially designated administrator submits the Authorization issued by the BIR Office concerned, together with the (unexpired) Refund Notice. ii. Heir or judicially designated administrator presents identification papers such as, but not limited to Tax Account Number Card, Office ID, Driver's License, etc. 3. Other Meritorious Cases a. Determination of meritorious cases shall be vested with the Chief, Collection Office upon recommendation of the Withholding Tax Division; Regional Director or Revenue District Officer as the case may be. b. Direct payment of the refund by the BIR to the refundee under these meritorious cases shall be allowed only upon written approval of the Revenue Service Chief, Collection Office. acd c. For purpose of direct payment of tax refunds, the procedures on ordinary disbursement shall be followed. III. PRESCRIBED VERIFICATION GUIDELINES All tax refund queries shall be addressed to and serviced by the Withholding Tax Division-BIR, subject to the following guidelines/procedures: A. Verification of Tax Refunds : 1. Inquiring refundees shall proceed to the Withholding Tax Division (Rm. 208-BIR, National Office Bldg.) and fill-up the Verification Slip to be submitted to the Verification Clerk. 2. Verification Clerk shall check the name of the refundee against the "Alpha List of Tax Refundees" and "Alpha List of Bad Files." acd 3. If the refundee's name appears in the "Alpha List of Tax Refundees," the Verification Clerk shall indicate the Refund Notice Number, Assessment Number and amount of refund on the Verification Slip and return the same to the taxpayer. 4. If the refundee's name appears in the "Alpha List of Bad Files," the Verification Clerk shall indicate the Assessment Number and amount of refund on the Verification Slip with the remarks "Bad Files" and returns the same to the taxpayer. In such case, the refundee shall be advised that the income tax return filed is erroneous or imperfect, hence is still being processed. 5. If the name does not appear in any of the alpha listings, refundee shall be advised to check/verify the status of his income tax return with the Assessment Branch of the concerned regional office where he filed his returns. In no case shall the refundee be advised to proceed and verify tax refunds with the Revenue Computer Center. B. "In Transit" Refund Notice For this purpose, "in transit" refund notice shall refer to a refund notice which was already sent thru the mails but had not yet been received by the refundee. The following procedures shall be observed: 1. Follow procedures Nos. 1 to 3 of paragraph A hereof. 2. Withholding Tax Division shall require the submission of an Affidavit of non-receipt and make the necessary recommendation to the Revenue Computer Center. If the recommendation is for the issuance of a replacement notice, Withholding Tax Division shall submit the same together with a copy of the Affidavit and Verification Slip to the Revenue Computer Center. 3. Revenue Computer Center shall verify the details of the Refund Notice per its records. If the Refund Notice has not yet expired, a replacement Refund Notice with the same number and with the notation "Replacement" shall be prepared and forwarded to the Withholding Tax Division for release upon proper identification of the refundee. In case the Refund Notice has expired, Revenue Computer Center shall reprocess the same under normal procedures. C. "Returned" Refund Notice For this purpose, "returned" refund notice shall refer to a refund notice which was previously sent by mails to the refundee but was not delivered to the refundee because, among others, of incomplete address, or addressee cannot be found. The following procedures shall be followed: 1. Follow procedure Nos. 1 to 4 of paragraph A hereof. 2. If, based from the "Alpha List of Tax Refundee," the Refund Notice had long been sent to the refundee thru the mails, Verification Clerk shall advice the refundee to verify from the listing of returned notices if the same was "returned" by the Post Office. 3. If the Refund Notice was returned to the Revenue Computer Center and has not yet expired, the same shall be forwarded to the Withholding Tax Division for release upon identification of the refundee. If the Refund Notice has expired, Revenue Computer Center shall reprocess the same under normal procedures. D. Expired Refund Notice/Request for Change of Address or Bank Branch 1. Refundee shall proceed to the Withholding Tax Division and surrender the original Refund Notice together with a letter request for the reissuance of the refund notice or for a change of address or bank branch. 2. After evaluation of the request, Withholding Tax Division shall make the necessary recommendation and transmit the same to the Revenue Computer Center. 3. Revenue Computer Center shall reprocess the Refund Notice under normal procedures. IV. REPEALING CLAUSE The provisions of Revenue Memorandum Orders and other pertinent issuances inconsistent herewith are hereby revoked or amended accordingly. acd V. EFFECTIVITY This Order shall take effect immediately. (SGD.) RUBEN B. ANCHETA Commissioner