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The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 115-2024 to clarify issues regarding risk-based approach verification and processing of VAT refund claims, pursuant to Section 112(A) of the Tax Code, as amended and as implemented by Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 05-2024, and Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 23-2024, as amended by RMO No. 42-2024. 

The following are salient points on risk-based approach verification and processing of VAT refund claims: 

Submission of documentary requirements

  • The taxpayer shall submit all documentary requirements mandated by the BIR for VAT refund purposes, regardless of the identified risk level.
  • The submission of complete documentary requirements shall follow the checklist of mandatory requirements. Noncompliance with this checklist shall result in the non-acceptance of the VAT refund application.

Timeline of VAT refund claims processing

  • The 90-day period to process the application and to decide on the claim shall commence from the acceptance of the claim/application for VAT refund by the processing office, provided that all documentary requirements are complete.

Process of VAT refund claims

  • Step 1: The checklisting procedure is the initial stage in the processing of VAT refund claims and is limited only to ensuring the completeness of the submitted documentary requirements by the taxpayer, based on the checklist of mandatory requirements.
  • Step 2: Cursory checking of the completeness of supporting documents submitted for sales and purchases of goods and services after the application has been accepted. Sales and purchases determined to be NSD or no supporting document during cursory checking shall not be considered as incomplete submission but shall result in the disallowance of the unsubstantiated portion thereof, regardless of the risk classification.
  • Step 3: Determination of the risk level of the claim in identifying the need for further verification. If the NSD for sales and purchases exceeds at least 1% of the total amount of sales (for sale transactions) or the total amount of the claim (for purchase transactions), the application shall be automatically classified as high-risk and shall require 100% verification. Further, applications with missing or incomplete information in the schedules of sales and purchases submitted shall be automatically classified as high-risk and shall require 100% verification. 
  • Step 4: The verification procedure is the last step in examining and evaluating the correctness and accuracy of the documents and is performed only to medium and high-risk claims. Low-risk claims are automatically recommended for a refund upon completion of the checklisting procedures. Input VAT claims that are not selected for verification but are included in the Run After Fake Transactions or RAFT Program for medium risk claims program shall not be allowed, leading to outright disallowance. Further, local Suppliers with input VAT claims that are not selected for verification but are identified as cannot-be-located taxpayers shall not be allowed and shall form part of the disallowance of the claim.

RMC No. 115-2024 shall take effect immediately on October 18, 2024. It shall apply to ongoing VAT refund claims currently being processed by the appropriate offices that have not been endorsed for review by the reviewing offices at the time of issuance.

 

Please be guided accordingly.

 

Source:

P&A Grant Thornton 

Certified Public Accountants 

P&A Grant Thornton is the Philippine member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd.

 

As published in SunStar Cebu, dated 07 November 2024