THE BUREAU of Internal Revenue (BIR) has extended the deadline for processing value-added tax (VAT) refund claims made prior to the issuance of a new set of prescriptive periods in 2014.
“In order to give sufficient time to all concerned offices to complete the processing, review and approval of all pending VAT claims filed prior to the effectivity of RMC No. 54 – 2014, the deadline prescribed in Item No. Vl.A.1 of RMC No. 17 – 2018 is hereby moved from June 30, 2018 to December 14, 2018,” the circular read, which was signed by Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay on June 13.
The BIR under previous leadership implemented RMC No. 54-2014 retroactively, which effectively denied pending claims upon the expiration of the 120-day period stated in the circular.
This was met by several complaints from taxpayers, which led the BIR to issue a Revenue Regulation in 2017 that gives a “fair and adequate relief to taxpayer-claimants,” following a Supreme Court ruling that taxpayers “have every right to pursue their claims in the manner provided by existing regulations at the time it was filed.” — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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