RMO No. 05-2012: Prescribes the revised guidelines, policies procedures in the conduct of performance benchmarking method, amending for this purpose RMO No. 4-2006

Key points

1. Coverage. Benchmarking in Regional and District offices covers as many types of taxpayers by industry as applicable, done separately for corporate and individual taxpayers. For Large Taxpayers, the program is initially limited to data gathering, profiling and setting the benchmark.
2. Benchmarking Committee. The committee is chaired by the Deputy Commissioner for Operations. The Assistant Commissioners of Assessment Service, Policy and Planning Service and Large Taxpayers Service, and the Proponent Regional Director, are Project Directors and members.
3. Risk classification. Taxpayers below the approved benchmark are High Risk if over 30% below, Middle Risk if 16% to 30% below, and Low Risk if 15% or less below. High risk taxpayers are the top priority for enforcement such as surveillance, CRM/POS Post Evaluation, Oplan Kandado, inventory stocktaking and audit.
4. Use in audits. Where Letters of Authority are issued, officials consider the industry benchmark before closing a case. Any downtrend deviation from the benchmark must be fully explained.
5. False data and revision. The committee reports and recommends actions against anyone who supplies false or fabricated data to meet benchmarks. The industry benchmark may be revised every two (2) years from approval, or when a law changes the VAT or Income Tax rate, whichever comes first, or as the Commissioner directs.

Who is affected

• Regional and District offices
• Large Taxpayers Service
• Corporate and individual taxpayers

Deadlines and effectivity

• Benchmark revision: every two (2) years from approval, or on a law changing VAT or Income Tax rate