REVENUE MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 47-2019 issued on April 16, 2019 prescribes the revised guidelines and mandatory requirements for the processing and grant of Value-Added Tax (VAT) refund claims within the 90-day period pursuant to Section 112 of the Tax Code of 1997, as amended, except claims processed under the jurisdiction of the Legal Service, thereby amending certain provisions in Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) Nos. 5-
2011 and 17-2018.

The time frame to process and grant claims for VAT refund is ninety (90) days from the date of submission of the official receipts or invoices and other documents in support of the application filed up to the release of the payment for the approved amount of the refund.

The Application for VAT Credit/Refund Claims (BIR Form No. 1914) shall be received by the following BIR offices:
a. VAT Credit Audit Division (VCAD) – for direct exporters, regardless of the percentage of export sales to total sales and whose claims are anchored under
Section 112(A) of the Tax Code of 1997, as amended
b. Revenue District Office (RDO) or LT Audit Division having jurisdiction over the taxpayer-claimant – for taxpayers engaged in other VAT zero-rated sales (e.g.
Renewable Energy Developers and those with indirect exports classified as effectively VAT zero-rated sales) whose claims are anchored under Section 112(A)
of the Tax Code of 1997, as amended
c. RDO or LT Audit Division having jurisdiction over the taxpayer-claimant – for taxpayers whose VAT Registration have been cancelled pursuant to Section
112(B) of the Tax Code of 1997, as amended Subject to the provisions of Sec. 4.112-1(b) of RR No. 13-2018, the filing of the claim for VAT refund of a VAT-registered person whose registration has been cancelled due to retirement from or cessation of business, or due to changes in or cessation of status shall be at
the BIR office which has jurisdiction over the taxpayer, within two (2) years from the date of issuance of the Tax Clearance by the BIR.

Upon filing of the claim, the taxpayer-claimant shall have no outstanding tax liabilities. Outstanding VAT liability with the BIR may be deducted from the approved refund on the BIR portion. If there is a VAT liability with the BIR and the claim includes refund of input VAT on importations which necessitates endorsement to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for processing of the payment, the VAT liability with the BIR must first be settled before filing the application for VAT refund with the BIR.The taxpayer-claimant shall ensure the completeness and authenticity of the documentary requirements upon filing of the application for VAT refund. Failure on the part of the taxpayer-claimant to submit the complete documents in support of the claim shall result in non-acceptance of the applications. No additional document/s shall be subsequently requested/required from the taxpayer-claimant. Any unsupported claim shall be outrightly disallowed, resulting in full/partial denial of the claim.

The person who will sign and file the application for VAT refund, execute affidavit/s and/or such other document/s supporting the claim shall be duly authorized by the taxpayer.

The “Secretary’s Certificate” or “Special Power of Attorney” designating/authorizing said representative of the corporate claimant or sole proprietorship/partnership, as the case may be, should be notarized and must be presented to the processing office, together with one (1) valid government-issued Identification Card (ID) of the said authorized representative.

The documents to be submitted by the taxpayer-claimant upon filing of the application for VAT refund, including the Revised Checklist of Mandatory Requirements, are specified in the Circular.

As part of the Transitory Provisions, the taxpayer-claimant shall submit the following documents within thirty (30) days from date of filing:
1. “Certification of VAT Payment” from BOC RAD;
2. Consularized copy of the certificate of foreign registration/ incorporation/ association of the NRFC for purposes of the claims whose zero-rated sales are anchored under
Sections 108(B)(2) of the NIRC of 1997, as amended; and
3. The certifications required for claims whose zero-rated sales are anchored under Section 108(B)(4) of the Tax Code of 1997, as amended, as required under Section II(9) of this Circular.

Non-submission of said documents within the prescribed period may result in partial or full denial of the application, as the case may be.

For VAT refund claims to be filed on June 1, 2019 and thereafter, all documents as required in the Circular shall be submitted upon filing.