Bureau of Internal Revenue

Du 07:41 AM, Jun 01, 2022

June 1, 2022

Dear Aljohn Mangaya:

Thank you for your request dated May 31, 2022 under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch, for BIR Ruling No. DA-649-06.

We received your request on May 31, 2022 and will respond on or before Jun 21, 2022 05:33:54 PM, in accordance with the Executive Order's implementing rules and regulations.

Should you have any questions regarding your request, kindly contact me using the reply function on the eFOI portal at https://foipmo03162020141059-dot-efoi-ph.appspot.com/requests/aglzfmVmb2ktcGhyHQsSB0NvbnRlbnQiEEJJUi04Njk4NjIxNTIxNDYM, for request with ticket number #BIR-869862152146.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Sherry Ann Cuyos
FOI Officer

Decision Maker 04:02 PM, Jun 13, 2022

Sir,

This refers to your request for a copy of a BIR ruling. 

Section 270 of the National Internal Revenue Code  (NIRC) of 1997, as amended, provides as follows:

​"SEC. 270. Unlawful Divulgence of Trade Secrets. —  Except as provided in Section 6(F) and 71 of this Code and Section 26 of Republic Act No. 6388, any officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue who divulges to any person or makes known in any other manner than may be provided by law information regarding the business, income or estate of any taxpayer, the secrets, operation, style or work, or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer, or confidential information regarding the business of any taxpayer, knowledge of which was acquired by him in the discharge of his official duties, shall upon conviction for each act or omission, be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) but not more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000), or suffer imprisonment of not less than two (2) years but not more than five (5) years, or both.

Any officer or employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue who divulges or makes known in any other manner to any person other than the requesting foreign tax authority information obtained from banks and financial institutions pursuant to Section 6(F), knowledge or information acquired by him in the discharge of his official duties, shall upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000) but not more than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000), or suffer imprisonment of not less than two (2) years but not more than five (5) years, or both."
Under the "unlawful divulgence" rule, personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) cannot divulge information gained from taxpayers concerning the latter's business, income, or estate as well as the secrets, operation, style or work, or apparatus of any manufacturer or producer, or confidential information regarding the business of any taxpayer. Section 270 of the NIRC of 1997, as amended, is clear in its intent to protect taxpayers from having their otherwise sensitive and private information unnecessarily revealed to other parties and as such, is also a ground for denial of an FOI request
 
It is to be noted that there are exceptions to the aforementioned provision: (1) disposition of income tax returns under Section 71 of the NIRC of 1997, as amended; (2) disclosure of income tax returns under Section 26 of Republic Act No. 6388 in case of an individual who files a certificate of candidacy and executes a waiver for the examination of his returns for the past two (2) years immediately preceding the election and that such waiver is only effective during the period of such candidacy; and (3) information given by the BIR pursuant to a request by a foreign tax authority under an existing tax treaty under Section 4 of Revenue Regulations No. 10-2010. However, the subject request does not fall under any of the above exceptions.
 
Based on the foregoing, we regret to deny your request under Section 270 of the NIRC of 1997, as amended.

Chief, Law and Legislative Division