Action on the Tax Cases Pending Preparation of Master Lists of Tax Amnesty Filers under Presidential Decree No. 213 and Presidential Decree No. 370

August 19, 1974 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 41-74 SUBJECT : Action on the Tax Cases Pending Preparation of Master Lists of Tax Amnesty Filers under Presidential Decree No. 213 and Presidential Decree No. 370 TO : All Internal Revenue Officers and Others Concerned Four Presidential Decrees granting tax amnesties have already been issued in succession by the President, namely, Presidential Decree No. 23, Presidential Decree No. 157, Presidential Decree No. 213 and lately Presidential Decree No. 370. Availment of the tax amnesty under Presidential Decree No. 370 ended on June 28, 1974 but the filing of amended returns thereon has been allowed up to September 30, 1974 under Letter of Instructions No. 200 of the President. For various unavoidable reasons, only the tax amnesty returns under Presidential Decree Nos. 23 and 157 have been processed so far and available for reference relative to request for verification of availment of the tax amnesty. A taxpayer may not have availed of the tax amnesty under Presidential Decree No. 23 and Presidential Decree No. 157 but he may have availed of the tax amnesty under Presidential Decree No. 370. Consequently, since the verification will be limited to the master lists of amnesty filers under Presidential Decree Nos. 23 and 157 only, the findings thereon by the Tax Amnesty Implementation Office cannot, therefore, be conclusive and may even possibly result in embarrassment. In view thereof, and considering that availment of the tax amnesty is a matter of defense, all necessary courses of action on tax cases prescribed and required under existing procedures and policies should be taken first and followed through. Only when the taxpayer raises availment of the tax amnesty as a defense should the case be referred to the Tax Amnesty Implementation Office in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Revenue Memorandum Order No. 2-74 dated January 8, 1974, for the necessary verification and confirmation of the taxpayer's allegation. cd This procedure is found necessary in order to prevent the accumulation of open cases in the Tax Amnesty Implementation Office and to enable the offices concerned to continue working on the pending cases, and thus avoid prescription, while the master lists of tax amnesty filers for the various tax amnesties are being prepared which, due to very limited personnel and equipment and the unusually enormous volume of work, may take several months to finish. All communications to taxpayers, whether it be a letter of authority to investigate, preliminary 10-day letter, letter of demand and assessment, or collection letter, should always carry or contain a courteous request, in case the taxpayer availed of a tax amnesty, to furnish information as to which Presidential Decree granting tax amnesty he availed of and the file number of his tax amnesty return. Both information should be included in the request for verification of availment of the tax amnesty with the Tax Amnesty Implementation Office. All those concerned are hereby enjoined to follow strictly the provisions hereof. MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue TAN 1601-593-5