BIR's Roadmap to 2028

“Progress is impossible without change,” George Bernard Shaw once wrote. For the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), that message resonates strongly as it seeks to modernize tax administration through advanced digitalization, stronger revenue protection measures, and more efficient taxpayer services.

Tax authorities around the world are investing heavily in digital transformation and online taxpayer services. It no longer focuses solely on revenue collection and enforcement. They are increasingly expected to leverage technology, data analytics, and modern service delivery to improve compliance while enhancing the taxpayer experience. Thus, the BIR in its Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 27-2026, issued on October 6, 2026, sets its sights on a broader transformation of the country’s tax administration system. 

At its core, the BIR’s strategic direction for 2026 to 2028 outlined five major strategic priorities intended to strengthen institutional performance, improve revenue generation, and build greater public confidence in the country’s tax system. The Strategic Plan seeks to align the Bureau's programs and projects with its five-point reform agenda known as BIR D.A.R.E.S. namely: Digital and Data Transformation; Audit Reform and Accountability; Revenue Collection and Revenue Base Protection; Employee Empowerment and Welfare Promotion; and Service Excellence and Stakeholder Engagement.

Digital and data transformation takes center stage

A major component of the BIR’s strategy is digital and data transformation, reflecting the growing importance of technology in modern tax administration.

Digital transformation is all about making tax administration simpler and more efficient through technology. The BIR aims to expand its digital services, make better use of data, and modernize its systems to help taxpayers comply more easily while allowing the bureau to monitor compliance more effectively. Among the digitalization initiatives identified, the following programs have direct or significant implications for taxpayers namely:

A. Taxpayer Portal

It is designed to give taxpayers a single view of their registration details, filed returns, tax payments, account ledger, and system-generated reminders. Online Registration and Update System (ORUS).

B. Integrated Electronic Filing and Payment System (iEFPS)

The iEFPS is the BIR's enhanced digital platform that enables enrolled taxpayers to electronically file tax returns and pay their corresponding tax liabilities through authorized banking channels.

C. Electronic Official Register Book (eORB)

The eORB initiative involves the electronic submission of the Official Register Book, which is required of taxpayers engaged in activities subject to excise tax and other applicable regulatory requirements.

D. Internal Revenue Stamp Integrated System (IRSIS)

The IRSIS is a digital monitoring and control initiative involving internal revenue stamps for regulated products, particularly alcoholic products and sweetened beverages.

E. Project 230X – Online Withholding Tax System

Project 230X is an initiative aimed at digitalizing withholding tax processes, particularly the reporting and administration of withholding taxes.

F. Internal Revenue Integrated System (IRIS)

The system can help streamline transactions, improve record management, and enable more efficient delivery of services.

G. Electronic Invoicing/Receipting and Sales Reporting System (EIS)

The initiative supports more efficient tax administration while encouraging businesses to adopt more integrated and technology-driven compliance processes.

H. BIR ONETT Portal (BOP) – One-Time Transaction Portal

The BIR ONETT Portal seeks to modernize the handling of one-time transactions by moving more of the process online, through the electronic ONETT (eONETT) system. 

I. OAVR – Online Application and Verification System

Its relevance to taxpayers lies in the use of an online facility for application and verification processes, reducing dependence on manual transactions, and facilitating access to BIR services.

Audit reform and accountability

The BIR is also placing emphasis on audit reform and accountability. This is particularly notable for its significant audit-related issuance released earlier this year

The plan includes building the BIR's transfer pricing capabilities, including the institutionalization of Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) and the continued use of transfer pricing tools and databases to support audits of cross-border transactions.  

A. Transfer Pricing

This is particularly relevant to multinational corporations and domestic businesses with related-party transactions. Taxpayers must maintain adequate transfer pricing documentation and demonstrate that their intercompany transactions comply with the arm's-length principle.

B. Advance Pricing Agreement (APA)

An APA can help reduce uncertainty and minimize potential transfer pricing disputes during future tax audits. It offers taxpayers greater certainty over the tax treatment of covered transactions.

C. Electronic Mail (Email) Communication

The use of email in audit-related communications can improve the coordination and exchange of information between taxpayers and the BIR, subject to applicable rules on official communications, service of notices, and submission of documents.

D. Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)

The BIR's participation in international tax cooperation and implementation of applicable BEPS measures strengthens its ability to identify tax avoidance risks and protect the Philippine tax base.

An effective tax audit system is essential to protecting government revenues, but it must also provide businesses with a fair, consistent, and transparent compliance environment.

For the private sector, the implementation of audit reforms will be closely watched, particularly in terms of how tax examinations are conducted, how procedures are applied, and how accountability is maintained.

Ultimately, the goal is to reduce manual processes, improve taxpayer experience, and support more efficient tax administration. A predictable and transparent audit environment can help reduce uncertainty for businesses while strengthening voluntary compliance.

Protecting government revenues

Revenue collection and tax base protection remain central to the Bureau’s priorities. The following are just some of the programs:

A. Base Erosion and Profit Shifting – Inclusive Framework (BEPS-IF)

It supports the Philippines' participation in international efforts to address tax avoidance practices, particularly those involving multinational enterprises that transfer or allocate profits to jurisdictions with low or no taxation to reduce their overall tax liabilities.

B. Increase Outbound Requests for Information from Tax Treaty Partners

The initiative strengthens the BIR's ability to obtain information from foreign tax authorities to verify cross-border transactions and assess tax risks. This may lead to greater scrutiny of taxpayers with international operations or related-party transactions.

C. Provision of Revenue Regulations to Implement Domestic Legislations

This initiative aims to ensure the timely issuances, regulations, and circulars necessary to implement laws enacted by Congress that have implications for national internal revenue taxation.

With these programs, the BIR is expected to strengthen efforts against tax evasion, address revenue leakages, and improve compliance across different sectors of the economy.

Investing in employees and institutional capacity

Recognizing that institutional reforms require capable personnel, the strategic plan also identifies employee empowerment and welfare promotion as a priority such as re-organization, restructuring and staffing wherein this program involves reviewing the organizational structure, staffing requirements, and plantilla positions of BIR offices to ensure that personnel are properly distributed according to operational needs; Development of Competency-Based Human Resource Management System (CBHRMS) which is intended to strengthen employee competencies and align personnel management with the requirements of the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM); and Integrity Management Program (Instill Discipline, Develop Culture of Integrity and Values Formation) where it promotes honesty, discipline, transparency, and accountability among BIR officials and employees. It includes anti-corruption prevention seminars, physical security policies and programs, and the simultaneous filing of administrative and criminal cases against employees when warranted.

The effectiveness of tax administration ultimately depends on the people implementing policies and delivering services. Investments in employee development, organizational capability, and workplace welfare can contribute to stronger institutional performance and more responsive public service.

What businesses need to know

RMO No. 27-2026 sets the BIR's strategic direction for the next three years. Businesses should monitor implementing issuances, strengthen tax compliance procedures, maintain accurate records, and prepare for digital reporting requirements.

The goal is a tax environment that encourages compliance while providing legitimate enterprises with greater certainty and confidence. The coming three years offer an opportunity to build a more efficient, transparent, and business-friendly tax system. Importantly, the strategic plan should be viewed as a framework for institutional direction rather than an automatic introduction of new tax rates or tax obligations. Any specific changes affecting taxpayers will depend on the applicable laws, regulations and subsequent BIR issuances.

Ultimately, the success of the BIR's 2026–2028 Strategic Plan will not be measured by the number of reforms announced or digital initiatives launched, but by tangible improvements in revenue collection, tax administration, taxpayer services, and public confidence.

The true measure of success will be the BIR's ability to turn its strategic commitments into meaningful reforms that strengthen public trust, encourage compliance, and support economic growth.

As published in BusinessWorld, dated 10 November 2026