REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 141-2019 issued on December 20, 2019 reiterates the salient points arising from Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 14-2016 on the proper execution of Waivers of the Defense of Prescription and providing an illustration of the basic requirements, as follows:
a. The Waiver is a unilateral and voluntary undertaking which shall take legal effect and be binding on the taxpayer immediately upon his execution thereof.
b. The Waiver need not specify the type of taxes to be assessed nor the amount thereof.
c. It is no longer required that the delegation of authority to a representative be in writing and notarized.
d. The taxpayer cannot seek to invalidate his Waiver by contesting the authority of his own representative.
e. It is the duty of the taxpayer to submit his Waiver to the officials listed in the said RMO prior to the expiration of the period to assess or to collect, as the case may be.
f. In addition to the previously authorized officials, the Revenue District Officer or Group Supervisor as designated in the Letter of Authority or Memorandum of Assignment can accept the Waiver.
g. The date of acceptance by the BIR officer is no longer required to be indicated for the Waiver’s validity.
h. The taxpayer shall have the duty to retain a copy of the submitted Waiver.
i. Notarization of the Waiver is not a requirement for its validity.
j. The taxpayer is charged with the burden of ensuring that his Waiver is validly executed when submitted to the BIR. Thus, the taxpayer must ensure that his Waiver:
i. is executed before the expiration of the period to assess or to collect taxes;
ii. indicates the expiry date of the extended period;
iii. indicates the type of tax (for waiver of the prescriptive period to collect); and
iv. is signed by his authorized representative.
k. There is no strict format for the Waiver. The taxpayer may utilize any form with no effect on its validity. Given the sparse requirements of RMO No. 14-2016, an
illustration of its key elements is provided in Annex A of the Circular.