RMO No. 69-2010: Prescribes the guidelines on the issuance of electronic Letters of Authority, Tax Verification Notices and Memoranda of Assignment

Summary

RMO No. 69-2010 sets the guidelines on issuing electronic Letters of Authority (eLAs), Tax Verification Notices (TVNs) and Memoranda of Assignment (MOA).

Key points

1. System access. Only the Commissioner of Internal Revenue can override eLAs issued to replace regular eLAs with National Investigation Division or Special Investigation Division eLAs for Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) purposes. The Deputy Commissioner for Legal and Inspection Group gets query access to the Letter of Authority Monitoring System to check if a regular eLA was already issued to a taxpayer intended for RATE.
2. New eLA form. The Accountable Forms Division does not issue the new eLA form (BIR Form No. 1966) unless all unused manual LAs issued to the office and offices under its jurisdiction are surrendered and accounted for. Starting August 16, 2010, only eLAs on BIR Form No. 1966 are issued for audit or investigation of tax liabilities, except Estate Tax cases.
3. Estate Tax cases. TVNs are issued for Estate Tax cases irrespective of the amount of gross estate until December 31, 2010.
4. Retrieval and replacement. All LAs, manual or electronic, issued from March 1, 2010 for cases for 2009 and other taxable years, and LAs issued by the Commissioner under RMC No. 61-2010, are retrieved and replaced with BIR Form No. 1966. Revenue officers ordered to audit under manual LAs issued before July 1, 2010 continue, subject to retrieval and replacement.
5. Manual Memoranda of Assignment. Manual serially-numbered MOAs are issued for reassignment due to resignation, retirement or transfer of the original Revenue Officer, returned cases, referral to another investigating office, one-time transaction (ONETT) cases, and protested cases or cases for reinvestigation. Taxpayers should not entertain audits using TVNs or MOAs for taxable year 2009 except in the cases the Order specifies.

Who is affected

• Revenue officers and approving officials
• Taxpayers audited for taxable year 2009

Deadlines and effectivity

• eLAs on BIR Form No. 1966 only: starting August 16, 2010
• TVNs for Estate Tax cases: until December 31, 2010
• LAs to be replaced: those issued from March 1, 2010

Summary by Tax Resources PH. It is not a substitute for the full text of the issuance or professional advice.