Guidelines in the Disposition of Unnumbered Documentary Stamps Declared Obsolete as of November 1, 1987

December 7, 1987 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 34-87 SUBJECT : Guidelines in the Disposition of Unnumbered Documentary Stamps Declared Obsolete as of November 1, 1987 TO : All Internal Revenue Officers Concerned 1.0 Purpose To prescribe a systematic and orderly disposition of unnumbered documentary stamps which became obsolete as of November 1, 1987. 2.0 General policies 2.1 The Bureau shall be responsible for the disposition of obsolete stamps and other revenue accountable forms in accordance with the National Accounting and Auditing Manual and other auditing rules and regulations. 2.2 The Bureau thru the Accountable Forms Division and the Records Control Division shall keep and maintain a sufficient quantity of each kind of documentary stamps by denomination as samples and for archival purposes. 2.3 In the National Office, disposal shall be made by the Committee to Supervise the Disposal of Specialized Accountable Forms created under Revenue Special Order No. 23-84. In the Regions, disposal shall be by the Regional Committee created under Revenue Memorandum Order No. 21-84 dated August 8, 1984. 3.0 Inventory Taking 3.1 BIR offices and units subject to inventory All unnumbered documentary stamps in the possession of the following officials shall be inventoried: 3.1.1 Chief, Accountable Forms Division and other employees in the Central Office in possession of unnumbered documentary stamps; 3.1.2 Chief, Administrative Branch and other accountable officers of the regional office in possession of obsolete documentary stamps; 3.1.3 District Collection Supervisors/Chief, Administrative Unit; 3.1.4 Collection Agents; 3.1.5 Cash Clerks; and 3.1.6 Municipal Treasurers acting as Collection Agents. 3.2 Who shall undertake the inventory 3.2.1 Revenue district level The Revenue District Officer and his duly authorized representatives shall conduct the inventory of the stamps in the possession of District Collection Supervisors, Chief, Administrative Unit, Collection Agents, Cash Clerks, and Municipal Treasurers acting as collection agents. 3.2.2 Regional level. The Assistant Regional Director and the Chief, Legal Branch, as Chairman and member of the Regional Committee, respectively, shall conduct the inventory of stamps in the possession of the Chief, Administrative Branch and the other accountable officers assigned in the regional office. 3.2.3 Central office level. The Committee to Supervise the Disposal of Specialized Accountable Forms created under Revenue Special Order No. 23-84 shall undertake the inventory of the unnumbered documentary stamps in the Accounting Forms and Division and the other units in the Central Office which are in possession of such stamps. 3.3 Procedure 3.3.1 Revenue district level 3.3.1.1 Inventory in all units in the district shall be taken simultaneously if feasible. If the Revenue District Officer lacks the necessary men he may request the Regional Director for the temporary detail of regional employees to assist in the taking of inventory. Under no circumstances, however, shall a Collection Agent, Cash Clerk, or other officials in possession of unnumbered documentary stamps be designated as members of the inventory group. 3.3.1.2 Before counting begins, the accountable officer concerned shall affix his initial at the back of every sheet or piece (as the case may be) of unnumbered documentary stamps. Each sheet shall be counted separately to ensure that a sheet of documentary stamps is complete and there are no gaps inside. 3.3.1.3 Counting and listing shall be by denomination. Listing shall be in seven (7) copies and should show the quantity surrendered for each denomination. 3.3.1.4 After inventory, all unnumbered documentary stamps shall be surrendered to and properly receipted for by the inventorying officer. 3.3.1.5 The surrendered stamps shall be arranged by denomination and placed in one envelope or such other container that can accommodate the stamps. 3.3.1.6 The listings of the stamps shall be distributed as follows: a. Original - to be placed inside the envelope or box containing the stamps; b. Duplicate - to the official who has original custody of the stamps; c. Triplicate - to the Inventorying Officer; d. Quadruplicate - to the Revenue District Officer; e. Quintuplicate - to the Assistant Regional Director; cd f. Sixth Copy - to the Chief Administrative Branch; and g. Seventh Copy - to the Regional Auditor. 3.3.1.7 The Collection Agent, Cash Clerk, or other persons surrendering the stamps shall submit to the inventorying officer a certification that he has no more unnumbered documentary stamps in his possession. The original of this certification shall likewise be placed inside the container for the stamps. 3.3.1.8 The envelope or box containing the stamps shall be securely sealed. Across the flap, the officer conducting the inventory and the original custodian of the stamps, shall affix their signatures to indicate that they have verified the correctness of the contents. The envelope or container shall likewise be labeled to show the source of the surrendered stamps. 3.3.1.9 The inventorying officer shall turn over the stamps and inventory listings to the Revenue District Officer. The Revenue District Officer shall then prepare the Consolidated Report of Inventory for this district in the prescribed form (Annex A) for submission to the Regional Director, Attention: The Assistant Regional Director. 3.3.1.10 The Revenue District Officer, after detaching his copy of the inventory, shall forward the envelope containing the stamps and all other attachments to the Assistant Regional Director who shall issue the corresponding receipt to the former. acd 3.3.1.11 The Assistant Regional Director shall, in the presence of the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative, open the envelopes/containers and check the contents for correctness based on the enclosed listing. 3.3.1.12 All copies of the inventory listing including the original shall be verified correct by the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative. The original of the inventory listing, duly verified correct, and a legible copy of the Consolidated Report of Inventory for the District (Annex A) are then sent to the Chief, Accountable Forms Division for his file. 3.3.2 Regional office level 3.3.2.1 The Assistant Regional Director and the Chief, Legal Branch, shall conduct the inventory of stamps in the regional office in the presence of the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative. 3.3.2.2 The same procedure as outlined in the preceding paragraphs shall be followed except that the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative shall be present from the start to the end of the inventory taking. The original of the inventory listings, duly verified by the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative, is then submitted to the Chief Accountable Forms Division or file. 3.3.3 Central office level Unnumbered documentary stamps in the custody of the Accountable Forms Division and other units in the Central Office, shall be inventoried by the Committee to Supervise the Disposal of Specialized Accountable Forms created under Revenue Special Order No. 23-84 in the presence of the BIR Resident Auditor or his duly authorized representative. The procedure for taking the inventory as detailed in the preceding paragraphs shall also be followed in the Central Office. 4.0 Storage of the Surrendered Stamps Pending final disposal, all surrendered documentary stamps shall be stored separately from all other accountable forms and the room where they are kept shall be sealed. 5.0 Provisions for Retention of a Sufficient Quantity of Obsolete Documentary Stamps as Samples and for Archive Purposes. 5.1 The Chief, Accountable Forms Division is authorized to retain/retrieve for the Bureau a maximum of 1,000 sheets for each kind of obsolete documentary stamps by denomination, as samples and for archive purposes. cd 5.2 Based on the regional and district inventory listings, the Chief, Accountable Forms Division shall advise each Assistant Regional Director the quantity of stamps of each kind and denomination that the former will retrieve from the stock of the latter before proceeding with the burning of the excess. 5.3 The Chief, Accountable Forms Division shall retain the stamps for samples and transmit the rest to the Chief, Records Control Division for archival purposes. 6.0 Burning of the Stamps 6.1 Regional level 6.1.1 Before burning, the Assistant Regional Director in his capacity as Chairman of the Regional Committee shall request the Chief, Laboratory Office in the National Office for laboratory test of the stamps to determine their genuineness. 6.1.2 The Chief, Laboratory Office shall, upon receipt of said request, send a team to the requesting regional office to conduct laboratory tests on the stamps. A written report of their findings which shall specify whether the stamps are genuine or fake, shall be submitted by the team to the Chairman of the Regional Committee, copy furnished: the Regional Auditor. In the case stamps are found to be fake, the name of the revenue accountable officer who returned the same, shall be indicated in the report. The Chief, Laboratory Office shall furnish the Chief, Accountable Forms Division with a copy of all reports of the laboratory technicians. 6.1.3 The Assistant Regional Director shall accomplish the affidavit required in Section 63 of the National Accounting and Auditing Manual, attaching a copy of the inventory of the stamps being proposed for burning. Care should be taken by the Assistant Regional Director to exclude from the inventory of stamps to be burned, the stamps found to be fake. He shall make arrangements with the Regional Auditor for the actual burning of the stamps, furnishing the latter with a copy of the affidavit and inventory of the stamps that will be burned. The arrangements shall cover the date, the time and the place where the stamps will be burned. aisa dc 6.1.4 The burning of the stamps shall be supervised by the Chairman and witnessed by the members of the Regional Committee and by the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative. 6.1.5 After the burning of the stamps, the Regional Committee shall prepare the certificate of destruction in five (5) copies, to be distributed as follows: a. Original - to the Revenue Accounting Division to be attached to the Journal Voucher; b. Duplicate - to the Chairman, Regional Committee to supervise the Disposal of Specialized Accounting Forms; c. Triplicate - to the Chief, Administrative Branch; d. Quadruplicate - to the Chief, accountable Forms Division; and e. Quintuplicate - to the Regional Auditor. 6.1.6 The Assistant Regional Director shall submit his report together with the original and fourth copies of the certificate of destruction to the Commissioner, Attention. The Chief, Accountable Forms Division who shall in turn, forward the original of the certificate of destruction to the Chief Revenue Accounting Division for attachment to the journal voucher. The report shall contain among others, a summary of the total quantity of the documentary stamps burned, by denominations, and by accountable officers. aisa dc 6.1.7 The Assistant Regional Director shall furnish the Chief, Administrative Branch with a copy of his report as well as the triplicate copy of the certificate of destruction. 6.1.8 Proper adjustments shall then be made in the records of the Administrative Branch in the region and in those of the Accountable Forms Division and the Revenue Accounting Division in the Central Office. 6.2 Central office level Burning of the unnumbered documentary stamps shall be made under the supervision of the Chairman, Committee to Supervise the Disposal of Specialized Accountable Forms created under Revenue Special Order No. 23-84, in the presence of the BIR Resident Auditor or his duly authorized representative. The procedure for burning as detailed in the preceding paragraphs shall be followed, except that sub-paragraphs 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 shall not be applied for stamps in the custody of the Accountable Forms Division. 7.0 Disposition of Fake Stamps 7.1 The Assistant Regional Director shall make a separate listing of documentary stamps found to be fake indicating the particular revenue accountable officer/s who surrendered the same. The said listing together with a xerox copy of the report on the findings of the laboratory test conducted on the said stamps, shall be forwarded to the Inspection Service for appropriate action. 7.2 Pending the disposition of the administrative case arising from such action the stamps shall be stored separately from the other accountable forms and the room where they are kept shall be sealed. 7.3 After the termination of the case, the subject stamps shall be burned in the presence of the Regional Auditor or his duly authorized representative under the supervision of the Regional Committee under Revenue Memorandum Order No. 21-84 which shall, subsequently, submit a certificate of destruction to the Inspection Service for attachment to the docket of the case, copy furnished: the Chief, Accountable Forms Division for his file. 8.0 Effectivity This Order shall take effect immediately. (SGD.) BIENVENIDO A. TAN, JR. Commissioner