BIR launches audit reform agenda

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Friday launched a sweeping reform agenda, which prioritizes audit reform within the agency.

This as BIR prepares to relaunch tax audits under stricter rules, stronger safeguards, as well as greater accountability.

The five-point reform program, called BIR D.A.R.E.S. (Digital and Data Transformation; Audit Reform and Accountability; Revenue Collection and Base Protection; Employee Empowerment and Welfare Promotion; and Service Excellence and Stakeholder Engagement), was formally rolled out during the BIR Directors’ Conference that was attended by regional directors from Luzon and officials of the Large Taxpayers Service.

According to BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza, the agenda aligns the agency’s work with the directive of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to keep revenue collection firmly focused on nation-building, while fixing long-standing weaknesses when it comes to tax administration.

“BIR DARES reflects what we are already grappling with on the ground,” Mendoza said in a press release.

“These are not abstract priorities. These are the real challenges we face, and these are the reforms we are choosing to confront,” he added.

Mendoza said public trust in the tax system was shaped largely by how audits are conducted and how assessments are issued.

He recalled that the BIR suspended the issuance of Letters of Authority (LOAs) in late November following concerns raised by the private sector over audit practices.

Mendoza said this move had allowed the agency to review its audit framework and address gaps that could undermine fairness and credibility.

The BIR then created the Technical Working Group Review Committee on Assessment Integrity and Audit Reform, which was tasked to review audit processes, systems, and controls.

Mendoza said the group is finalizing policy issuances that will govern the lifting of the suspension and the resumption of audits.

“These reforms are being carefully designed to ensure that when audits resume, they do so under clearer rules, stronger safeguards, and better oversight,” Mendoza said.

Among the changes taxpayers will see are the public LOA verifier via the BIR website chatbot REVIE, a single consolidated LOA per taxpayer per year, and the abolition of audit units and task forces that previously overlapped.

The BIR will also revive the revalida or “audit the auditors” system in order to intensify accountability among revenue officers. — BAP, GMA Integrated News