The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is rebooting its audit regime, promising fewer surprises and more predictability for taxpayers as field audits officially resume.
After a months-long review, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the reforms are meant to clean up long-criticized examination practices while supporting the Marcos administration’s broader push to improve the ease of doing business.
Finance Secretary Frederick Go framed the changes as both procedural and cultural, stressing that restoring trust is as important as raising revenues.
“These changes align with the administration’s big, bold reforms to improve the ease of doing business and strengthen trust in government,” Go said, urging taxpayers and the public to engage actively as the new rules are rolled out. The DOF, he added, will remain “fully involved throughout these reforms,” signaling close oversight of implementation.
BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza announced the formal lifting of the suspension on letters of authority (LOAs), mission orders, and field audits imposed last November. The pause, he said, allowed the agency to review audit rules, consult stakeholders, and strengthen internal controls.
“That review has now been completed,” Mendoza said, adding that taxpayers should immediately feel the difference as audits resume.
The centerpiece of the overhaul is the adoption of a single-instance audit framework.
Under the new system, there will generally be only one LOA per taxpayer per taxable year, consolidating what used to be multiple audit authorities. The shift is intended to reduce duplication, confusion, and drawn-out examinations—long a sore point for businesses—while retaining narrowly defined exemptions for complex cases.
Structural reforms reinforce the change. The BIR is shutting down the VAT Audit Section, VAT Audit Teams, and special audit task forces, concentrating audit authority in regional offices and the Large Taxpayers Service.
According to Mendoza, this clearer chain of command is designed to curb overlapping mandates and limit opportunities for abuse.
Transparency measures round out the package. Taxpayers can now verify the authenticity of LOAs through the BIR website via the REVI chatbot.
“Taxpayers can check if the LOA issued to them was indeed officially issued by the BIR,” Mendoza said. An “audit-to-auditor” program and stronger documentation requirements are also meant to tighten accountability within the agency.
Taken together, the reforms suggest a more disciplined, rules-based audit environment. The challenge now is execution: consistent application will determine whether the reset delivers lasting relief—or merely a brief pause—before old frictions resurface.
