Procedures and Requirements For The Accreditation of Tax Practitioners/Agents As A

Prerequisite To Their Practice and Representation Before The BIR

Section 6 of the Revenue Regulations 14-2010 refers to the Effects of Accreditation Only those Tax Agents/Practitioners, Partners or Officers of General Professional
Partnerships, or Officers or Directors of Corporate entities engaged in tax practice
who have been issued certificate of Accreditation or ID card shall be allowed to
represent a taxpayer or transact business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue in
representation of a taxpayer for the purposed(s) defined in these regulations.
The Commissioner of his authorized representative shall only consider as valid
document/attachments to tax returns, information returns or other statements or
reports required by the Code of Regulations, the financial statements prepared,
signed and certified by duly accredited tax practitioners. The BIR can refuse to
transact official business with tax practitioners who are not accredited before it and
shall require that certain official statements such as returns, financial statements,
reports, protest, request for ruling, official correspondence and others statements,
paper or documents filed on behalf of a taxpayer be signed or certified to by
accredited persons which shall bear the following information below the signature of
the latter.
A. For individual's (CPA's, members of GPPs, and others)
a.1 Tax Identification Number (TIN); and
a.2 BIR Accreditation Number, Date of Issue, and Date of Expiry
B. For members of the Philippine Bar (Lawyers)
b.1 Tax Identification Number (TIN)
b.2 Attorney's Roll Number;
b.3 Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Compliance Number; and
b.4 BIR Accreditation Number, Date of Issue, and Date of Expiry
The Procedures and Requirements For The Accreditation of Tax Practitioners/Agents
As A Prerequisite To Their Practice and Representation Before the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR) are as follows:

1. All applicants shall accomplish their application for accreditation in the form to be
prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (BIR Form 1916). The dulyaccomplished application form shall be submitted, together with all documentary
requirements, whichever is applicable with the RRAB of the place where the
individual applicant or general professional partnership has his/its residence or
principal place of business.

2. For Individual Applicants:

a. Certified True Copy of Certificate of Registration with the Board of Accountancy

(BOA) and current license with the Professional Regulations Commission, if a CPA
[Certified True Copy of Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Identification Card
(ID)], or Attorney's Roll Number and Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE)
Compliance Number, if a Lawyer;

b. Certificate of Membership in Good Standing with his/her/its PICPA Chapter or

ACCPA (for CPAs) or Integrated Bar of the Philippines (for lawyers);

c. Certificate of Good Moral character issued by two (2) disinterested persons, who
are either member of the BAR or CPA in good standing;

d. If not a Certified Public Accountant:

d.1 Certified copy of transcript of records from the university or college showing
compliance with at least eighteen (18) units in accounting or taxation as prescribed
in Section 4(A)(2).

d.2 Written certification of continuing professional education (CPE) units of at least

six (6) hours per year or a total of eighteen (18) hours for three years in taxation
conducted by the BIR (e.g. Revenue Regions, Revenue District Offices, etc.) or from
private institutions (e.g tax/auditing firms, educational or training institutions,
professional organizations, etc), where the number of training hours earned are
printed on the certificates and obtained not more than a year prior to the
application/renewal for accreditation.

e. A written undertaking under oath (Notarized) to preserve working papers within

the period prescribe under Section 235 o the NIRC of 1997, as amended, and
making them available to the Bureau's authorized representative/s when required or
directed to do so.

3. Processing Fee - Each applicant shall pay a non-refundable processing fee of Five
hundred pesos (P1000.00) upon filing of his application for accreditation. If the
applicant is a general professional partnership, the fee shall be paid each partner
and authorized representative thereof. In the case of incorporated entities engaged
in accounting and tax consultancy services, the fee shall be paid by each of the
applicant officers or designated representatives thereof.

4. Additional Requirements (if applicable) - Accredited tax agents shall likewise be

required to submit the following documents as an attachment to the initial filing of
reports, protests, request for ruling, official correspondence and other statements,
papers or documents filed on behalf of a particular taxpayer as proof of their
authority to represent the concerned taxpayer:

a. Copy of current Engagement Letter with clients.

b. Special Power of Attorney executed by the client authorizing the practitioner to
represent him before the BIR.
5. For CPAs, Photocopy of Professional Tax Receipt (PTR)
6. Photocopy of BIR 0605 Annual Registration Fee of P500.00
7. Photocopy of BIR Certificate of Registration (COR)
8. Certificate of Training at least six (6) hours per year or a total of eighteen (18)
hours for the three (3) years of continuing professional education (CPE) in taxation
from trainings/seminars conducted by the BIR (e.g. Revenue regions, RDOs, etc.) of
from private institutions (e.g. tax/auditing firms, educational or training institutions,
professional organizations, etc.) where the number of training hours earned are
printed on the certificates.
9. Photocopies of Income Tax Return (ITR) of the previous two (2) years.
10. If employed, Certificate of Employment of Proof of Meaningful Experience with
duties and responsibilities.

Significant changes to the BIR assessment process

(First of two parts)
By Rubina P. Bundoc-Aquino
First Published in Business World (1/13/2014)

With the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)s intensifi ed focus on enforcement and audits,
taxpayers need to understand the investigation and assessment process and the
available remedies under the law, particularly now that the recently issued Revenue
Regulations (RR) No. 18-2013, dated November 28, 2013 which took eff ect on December
15, 2013, introduced major changes to the BIRs assessment processes.
One amendment that stands out is the removal of what used to be called Informal
Conference between the BIR and the taxpayer, prior to the issuance of a defi ciency tax
assessment. Prior to the amendment, the BIR sends the taxpayer a Notice for Informal
Conference (NIC) inviting the taxpayer to a conference or meeting with the examiners to
give him a chance to present his side and explanations regarding the BIRs preliminary
fi ndings. At this stage, the BIR has not issued any formal assessment and allows the
taxpayer an opportunity to present his arguments and supporting documents. After the
informal conference, the BIR and the taxpayer may go through a series of discussions
and document submissions, where the taxpayer tries to convince the BIR of the merits of
his arguments. In the end, the taxpayer may opt to pay whatever remains of the
proposed defi ciency taxes. Whether the taxpayer agrees or refuses to pay the proposed
defi ciency taxes, the docket of the case will be endorsed for review to the Assessment
Division of the Regional Offi ce (in the case of fi ndings on taxpayers registered with the
BIR district offi ces), or to the BIR Commissioner or her duly authorized representative (in
the case of large taxpayers and those investigated by the BIR National Offi ce), as the
case may be, for possible issuance of a Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN). It is only
when the taxpayer fails to respond to the BIRs request for a conference that the docket
is immediately endorsed to these offi ces for review and possible issuance of a defi ciency
tax assessment.
Under the new Regulations, the BIR will no longer issue NICs. This means that the BIR
can already issue the PAN showing the proposed defi ciency tax assessment, as well the
detailed facts and the law, rules and regulations, or jurisprudence on which the
proposed assessment is based. This shows the BIRs aim to expedite the investigation
process, and what the taxpayer does during the audit investigation stage will largely
infl uence how the case will progress.
Now more than ever, it is important for the taxpayer to respond promptly to the
investigating offi ces requests for documents and/or explanations. The taxpayer should
regularly coordinate with the handling revenue offi cer to keep abreast on the audits
progress. He should constantly monitor the progress of the review to address the BIRs
questions in order to limit the issues, before the docket is presented to the reviewing
offi ce and being served with a PAN.
Preparing for the BIR audit
Even before the BIR issues the PAN, or better yet, even before the taxpayer receives a
Letter of Authority for a BIR audit, the taxpayer will do well to review his records to
ensure that the declarations in his tax returns are reconciled with those disclosed in his
fi nancial statements. The taxpayer should also ensure that taxes on relevant expenses
and asset acquisitions have been withheld and remitted to the BIR. This exercise will
reduce the burden of the BIR audit as it is almost certain that a similar reconciliation
would have to be done once the taxpayer receives an assessment from the BIR.

With the informal conference gone, a question that arises is whether the taxpayer will
still have the ability to pay the defi ciency taxes assessed at the level of the examining
offi ce, or whether he should wait until the reviewing offi ce evaluates the docket and
issues the PAN.
In the absence of an informal conference, the Revenue District Offi ce, for instance (in
the case of a non-large taxpayer), would immediately endorse its report to the regional
offi ce with a recommendation for the issuance of a PAN. Hence, it would seem that the
taxpayer may now pay the defi ciency taxes only after the PAN is issued.
Issuance of a Final Assessment Notice / Formal Letter of Demand
When a PAN is issued, the taxpayer has 15 days to submit his response. If he fails to do
so, he is considered in default. The BIR shall then issue a Formal Letter of Demand and
Final Assessment Notice (FLD/FAN) calling for the payment of the defi ciency tax
assessed, inclusive of the applicable penalties.
If the taxpayer submits his response but disagrees with the fi ndings in the PAN, the new
rules require the BIR to issue the FLD/FAN within 15 days from the fi ling of the
taxpayers response. While the 15-day period clearly indicates the BIRs goal of moving
the process forward, it nevertheless raises the question of whether the taxpayers
response to the PAN will be given suffi cient consideration.
Once the FLD/FAN is issued, it becomes even more critical for the taxpayer to strictly
adhere to the new rules prescribed in RR 18-2013, since a misstep may have dire
consequences.
As mandated in the Tax Code, the FLD/FAN should state the facts, the law, rules and
regulations, or jurisprudence on which the assessment is based; otherwise, the
assessment shall be void. Within 30 days from receipt of the FLD/FAN, the taxpayer may
fi le his protest, either by way of a request for reconsideration or reinvestigation.
In the second part of this article next week, we will discuss in more detail the fi ling of
protests and other important procedural information.