Tax Alert No. 33 [Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 82-2022) dated 30 June 2022]

Clarification on the Service of Letter of Authority Pursuant to Revenue Audit Memorandum Order (RAMO) No. 1-2000

RMC No. 82-2022 has been issued to address the concerns regarding the service of an electronic Letter of Authority (eLA) to the taxpayer within the 30-day period from the issuance date thereof as provided under RAMO No. 1-2000.  

In a recent decision, the Court of Tax Appeals anchored on RAMO No. 1-2000 and ruled that, “The Letter of Authority (LOA) no longer has any force or effect having been served on the petitioner beyond the prescribed 30-day period. The assessment conducted by the Revenue Officers was already unauthorized, because there is no valid LOA covering it.” (CTA En Banc Case No. 1294) 

This issuance hereby clarifies that RAMO No. 1-2000 was already amended by RAMO No. 1-2020, which removed the requirement to serve the LOA within thirty (30) days from the issuance date. 

Nonetheless, the removal of the 30-day period to serve the eLA shall in no case be a reason for the concerned revenue officer (RO) to delay its service nor for a taxpayer to refuse or question its validity when the same is served beyond the 30-day period. 

It is the responsibility of concerned ROs to serve the eLA right away, given that the entire audit process must be completed within 180 days for Revenue District Office (RDO) cases and 240 days for Large Taxpayer (LT) cases from the issuance date of eLA. 

Thus, an eLA which remains unserved upon the effectivity of this circular, or which has been served beyond the 30-day period from the date of its issuance shall still be valid and enforceable, provided that the 180-day/240-day period for the audit process has not yet expired.

All other issuances inconsistent with the provisions of RMC No. 82-2022 are repealed and modified accordingly.

You may access the full version of the RMC through the BIR website.