RMO No. 54-2000: Prescribes the guidelines and procedures for the conduct of surveillance on the business operations of any person, in order to establish a prima facie basis for the assessment of internal revenue tax liabilities

Key points

1. Persons covered. The Order covers persons perceived not to declare their correct income, sales or receipts, and those who failed to issue official receipts and invoices or hold unregistered receipts, invoices, cash register machines or point of sale machines. It also covers those who failed to file returns, forms or statements on time or filed fraudulent ones, and those who failed to register with the BIR.
2. Mission Orders. All surveillance activities are covered by Mission Orders requisitioned by authorized revenue officials.
3. Surveillance team. At least two (2) officers conduct the surveillance, drawn from Revenue Officers (Assessment/Excise), Intelligence Officers and Special Investigators.
4. Use of findings. Findings may be the basis for assessing taxes for other months or quarters of the same or different taxable years. Such an assessment is deemed prima facie correct.

Who is affected

• Persons perceived not to declare correct income, sales or receipts
• Persons without registered receipts, invoices or cash register machines
• Persons who failed to file returns or to register with the BIR