Let's Talk Tax

For years, the relationship between the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Filipino taxpayers has been fraught with stress, uncertainty, and administrative friction.

On 27 January 2026, The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officially announced the lifting of its stop-audit order, signalling the resumption of full audit and enforcement activities with the issuance of Revenue Memorandum Order No. 001-2026.

Earlier this year, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) launched D.A.R.E.S., its five-point reform and legacy agenda. DARES stands for Digital and Data Transformation, Audit Reform and Accountability, Revenue Collection and Base Protection, Employee Empowerment and Welfare Promotion and Service Excellence and Stakeholder Engagement.

The temporary suspension of audit and field operations under Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 107 2025, issued on 24 November 2025, marked a deliberate pause in the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) audit operations. This suspension was intended not merely as a reprieve for taxpayers but as a strategic opportunity for the BIR to recalibrate its audit framework, enhancing efficiency, strengthening safeguards, and restoring confidence in the integrity of the tax audit system.

“Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” This principle has never been more relevant in today’s rapidly evolving tax and regulatory landscape. Businesses that fail to adapt to new compliance requirements are not spared from the consequences. With the government tightening compliance rules, failing to prepare can result in the loss of tax incentives that businesses might otherwise be entitled to enjoy. In taxation, entitlement without compliance is no entitlement at all.

Have you ever heard a rule so often in school that it simply stayed with you? During my college days, there was one phrase that came up repeatedly throughout my accounting classes: “Do not assume, unless otherwise stated.”