Revised Guidelines and Procedures in the Processing of Authorized Agent Bank's Request for Refund of Over-Remittance of Tax Collections

July 19, 2022 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 34-2022 SUBJECT : Revised Guidelines and Procedures in the Processing of Authorized Agent Bank's Request for Refund of Over-Remittance of Tax Collections TO : All Internal Revenue Officials, Employees and Others Concerned I. OBJECTIVES: This Order is hereby issued to: 1. Provide the guidelines and procedures in the processing of Authorized Agent Banks' (AABs') request for refund of over-remitted tax collections superseding Revenue Memorandum Order No. 27-2004. 2. Provide amendments in the procedures for refund of over remitted tax collections in accordance with the implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) pursuant to Executive Order (EO) No. 55. 3. Delineate the functions and responsibilities of concerned offices and AABs in the receipt and processing of request for refund of over-remitted tax collections. II. POLICIES AND GUIDELINES: 1. Refund of over-remittance of tax collection by the AABs shall be processed in accordance with the procedures as stated in this order pursuant to the provisions of Revenue Regulations 5-84 (Sec. 5, A 4 and Sec. 5, B 8), Treasury Circular No. 3-2013 and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) among the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) and the AABs. 2. Refund of over-remittance by the AABs as collecting agents should not be construed as refund of tax payments of a taxpayer. Erroneous remittance may be adjusted by AABs within five (5) days from date of collection. As prescribed under Part D No. 4 (d) of Treasury Circular No. 03-2013 dated December 11, 2013, adjustments to be made beyond the allowed five (5) banking days from collection date shall have prior clearance from the BTr. The BTr shall acknowledge receipt of adjustment requests from banks and coordinate with the BIR for immediate action and approval. 3. The letter-request for refund of over-remittance should be made in writing, addressed to the Assistant Commissioner-Collection Service (ACIR-CS). Attention to the Chief, Revenue Accounting Division (RAD) and shall indicate the following: a. the AAB Branch involved; b. the collection date involved; c. the amount of over-remittance; d. the date/s of remittance; e. the amount of collection per BCS-A; and f. the reason(s)/causes(s) of over-remittance. 4. The letter-request for refund of over-remittance should be submitted together with the following attachments: a. Affidavit executed by the AAB Branch Officer indicating the facts/information relative to the case of refund; and b. Other proof of evidence to further substantiate the claim for refund such as official receipt of other payments (SSS/Credit Card Co./etc.) erroneously reported as BIR payment. 5. The procedures stated in this order shall apply to all channels of payment that passes through the banking system (whether manual or electronic/online collections). 6. No request for refund shall be granted unless the collection data as shown/uploaded in the Collection and Bank Reconciliation System-Integrated Tax System (CBRS-ITS)/Collection Remittance and Reconciliation-Internal Revenue Integrated System (CRR-IRIS) has been adjusted/corrected. 7. It shall be the responsibility of the Revenue District Office (RDO) concerned to adjust/correct the affected BCS-A report uploaded in the CBRS-ITS/CRR-IRIS of over-remittance which resulted from double uploading of collections and/or erroneous inclusion of payments such as those under 4.b. 8. For the purpose of this order, the functions and responsibilities of the RDO discussed under item II. 7. shall also mean the functions and responsibilities of the Large Taxpayer Document Processing and Quality Assurance Division (LTDPQAD) and the Large Taxpayer District Office (LTDO) for AABs' large taxpayer collections under their jurisdiction. III. PROCEDURES: A. The Revenue Accounting Division (RAD) shall: 1. Receive letter-request from the AAB through the Assistant Commissioner-Collection Service requesting for refund of over-remittance of tax collection; 2. Verify/investigate if the request is valid/correct within 10 days from receipt of the letter-request together with complete attachment: a. Verify the total amount of collection of the concerned AAB Branch for the particular collection date using the Collection and Bank Reconciliation System (CBRS) of the Integrated Tax System (ITS)/Collection Remittance and Reconciliation-Internal Revenue Integrated System (CRR-IRIS). Verify also the BCS-A report/s by scrutinizing the immediately preceding and succeeding collection to ensure that there's no offsetting of collection; and b. Verify the total amount of remittance using the hard copy of the Consolidated Report of Daily Collection (CRDC), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-List of Remittances (BSP-LOR) data and/or the Journal Entry Voucher (JEV) of the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). 3. Prepare letter-request, if necessary, addressed to the RDO/LTDO/Large Taxpayers Office concerned for additional information pertaining to the request for refund based on the submitted documents by the AAB branch immediately after verification/investigation has been performed and the need for additional information has been ascertained; 4. Receive reply from the RDO/LTDO/Large Taxpayers Office concerned on request for additional information; 5. Immediately prepare letter request after verification/investigation addressed to the AAB to amend/adjust, if found erroneous, their BCS-A collection report, transmitted electronically to the Revenue Data Center (RDC)/National Office Data Center (NODC) and the hardcopy/ies submitted to the RDOs; 6. Prepare letter response to the AAB on the status of the request for refund immediately after verification/investigation and inform them if there is a need to submit additional proof/evidence to further substantiate the claim; and 7. Prepare the necessary Evaluation Report (Annex A) and transmit the same to the BTr within five (5) days after the request for adjustment/refund is verified correct. B. The RDO/LTDO/Large Taxpayers Office shall: 1. Receive letter-request from RAD for additional information on the refund of the AAB; 2. Receive letter-request from AAB to adjust/correct the uploaded BCS-A collection report in the CBRS-ITS/CRR-IRIS; 3. Verify/investigate immediately and prepare response to the request of RAD or the AAB within five (5) working days from receipt of such request and perform the following: a. Verify the total amount of collection as reported by the AAB Branch using the hard copy of the BCS-A collection report and determine if the over-remittance resulted from double uploading of the said BCS; and b. Verify using the corresponding tax return, if it involves payment data of a particular taxpayer, the correctness of the total collection. 4. Coordinate with the AAB or RDC/NODC or any BIR offices concerned, if necessary, on matters involving the adjustments/amendments to the collection data uploaded in the ITS-CBR/IRIS-CRR; 5. Amend/adjust uploaded collection data in the CBRS-ITS/CRR-IRIS, if found erroneous, upon completion of investigation and required documentation; and 6. Amend/correct the collection reports that included the amount of over-remittance, which is the subject of the requested refund, for purposes of reflecting the accurate amount of collection for a particular period. IV. REPEALING CLAUSE: Other issuances or portions thereof not consistent with the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed or amended accordingly. V. EFFECTIVITY: This Order shall take effect immediately. (SGD.) LILIA CATRIS GUILLERMO Commissioner of Internal Revenue