DOJ: GOCCs, agencies can’t waive, reduce fees, fines without Congress' approval

Government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and national government agencies (NGAs) cannot waive, condone, or grant amnesty on government fees, fines, and penalties without clear legislative authorization, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

“NGAs and GOCCs may not, without express statutory authority or an express grant under their charters, exempt clients from or waive service or regulatory fees, nor may they condone, waive, discount, or reduce fines and penalties arising from the exercise of their regulatory or enforcement functions,” the DOJ said in its Opinion No. 03, series of 2026, dated January 28.

It added that “any relief measures involving the waiver or condonation of government charges must be founded on clear legislative authorization.”

The DOJ’s opinion stemmed from the request for legal opinion by National Tax Research Center (NTRC) Executive Director Mark Lester Aure on the authority of GOCCs and NGAs to grant amnesty, condone, or waive the imposition of fees, fines and penalties.

The NTRC sought clarification whether an NGA or GOCC may, without express authority or an express grant under its charter, exempt clients from or waive service or regulatory fees as an “exercise of administrative discretion or incidental powers.”

It also asked if an NGA or GOCC may, in the absence of express statutory authority or an express grant under its charter, condone or waive fines and penalties arising from the exercise of its enforcement functions and whether there are legal parameters, conditions, or limitations governing such acts of condonation or waiver.

In response, the DOJ noted that “the power to compromise claims rests primarily in the Commission on Audit (COA), in appropriate case, in Congress, except only where such authority is expressly conferred upon an an agency by its charter.”

“By the same token, where there is no express statutory authority or express charter grant to condone or waive fines and penalties, an agency has no authority to grant discounts or reductions,” it added. — JMA, GMA Integrated News