REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 17-2023 issued on May 18, 2023 prescribes the policies, guidelines and procedures on the preservation, archiving, and/or safekeeping of records/documents at the Records Management Division/Administrative and Human Resource Management Division. The Records Management Division (RMD) in the National Office and Administrative and Human Resource Management Division (AHRMD) in the Regional Offices shall archive, safekeep and safeguard the records/documents and dockets of tax cases of the BIR against damage or loss. The protection of these records can be accomplished by scanning or other modes of capturing the exact image, making it possible to store the electronic copies in an external hard drives and be placed in a depository safe in the RMD/AHRMD, or other electronic storage system. Scanning or capturing the exact image shall cover records/documents/ dockets of tax cases forwarded to RMD/AHRMD for archiving or safekeeping and such other documents/dockets which are not necessarily for archiving or safekeeping but must be safeguarded from loss or damage which include, but not limited to, the following:  Dockets of tax cases involving fraud which are recommended for prosecution;  Dockets of tax cases which are subject to court litigation regardless of the amount involved;  Dockets of tax cases which are subject for abatement and/or collection;  All subsequent action documents or papers which form part of a docket already scanned;  Other dockets or cases not included in the preceding paragraph but are considered as ‘important record’;  All other records/documents deemed as permanent and confidential. Records/documents/dockets transmitted to RMD/AHRMD must contain an index or table of contents, numbered in chronological order, with proper and correct pagination, the top page being the latest dated document. Records/documents/dockets forwarded to RMD/AHRMD for storage purposes only are considered still under the custody of the office where the document/docket originated. However, it shall be subject to the disposal process when it reaches the prescribed retention period. Temporary records such as newspapers and other documents/records of insufficient and short-term administrative values need not be scanned. These records must undergo the usual decluttering and disposal process after regular review and evaluation to ensure that documents are not stored or kept for periods longer than necessary. All scanned or captured exact image of these records/documents/ dockets are considered Official Records. As such, these are subject to proper retention and disposal rules as approved by National Archives of the Philippines (NAP). All electronic records shall be properly secured and protected throughout their retention periods from intentional or accidental modifications, disclosures, deletion, and unauthorized access. Permission to capture or access electronic records shall only be given to authorized personnel. Request for reproduction of records/documents/dockets from the electronic copy, where the original has been confirmed to be lost/damaged, can only be done 2 thru a letter-request from the head of office where the records/document/docket originated, recommended by the concerned Assistant Commissioner in the National Office and Regional Director for Regional Offices and approved by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The letter-request for reproduction of records shall state the reason for the requested reproduction, with supporting documents. In case of request for reproduction of records/documents/dockets which were already disposed, the Chief of RMD/AHRMD shall only issue a Certificate of Disposal of Records, except in exceptional circumstances to be determined by the Commissioner. Electronic copies of the scanned/captured image of the records must be preserved and migrated to the most current hardware or software on regular basis before the original paper documents can be disposed. Disposal can only be done upon the approval of the NAP following proper procedures to ensure the electronic copies or scanned records remains accessible and readable for their full retention period. Electronic copies of the records/documents/dockets shall be kept and retained under the custody of the RMD/AHRMD.