REVENUE REGULATIONS NO. 14-2008 issued on December 8, 2008 amends further Section 2.57.2(M) of Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 2-98, as amended, increasing the coverage of withholding tax agents who are required to withhold one percent (1%) from regular suppliers of goods and two percent (2%) from regular suppliers of services from the top 10,000 private corporations to top 20,000 private corporations. Income payments made by any of the top 20,000 private corporations, as determined by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR), to their local/resident supplier of goods and local/resident supplier of services, including non-resident alien engaged in trade or business in the Philippines, shall be withheld a creditable Income Tax at the rates are specified below. a. Supplier of goods – One percent (1%) b. Supplier of services – Two percent (2%) The top 20,000 private corporations shall include corporate taxpayers who have been determined and notified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as having satisfied any of the following criteria: a. Classified and duly notified by the CIR as a large taxpayer under RR No. 1-98, as amended, or belonging to the top 5,000 private corporations under RR No. 12-94, or to the top 10,000 private corporations under RR No. 17-2003, unless previously de-classified as such or had already ceased business operations (automatic inclusion); b. Any taxpayer with net Value-Added Tax (VAT) paid or payable for the preceding year of at least P 100,000; c. Any taxpayer with annual Income Tax paid or payable for the preceding year of at least P 200,000; d. Any taxpayer with Percentage Taxes for the preceding year of at least P 100,000; e. Any taxpayer whose gross sales for the preceding year is over P 10,000,000; and f. Any taxpayer whose gross purchases for the preceding year is over P 5,000,000. A corporation shall not be considered a withholding agent, unless such corporation has been determined and duly notified in writing by the CIR that it has been selected as one of the top 20,000 private corporations. Any corporation which has been duly classified and notified as large taxpayer by the CIR pursuant to RR No. 1-98, as amended, shall be automatically considered one of the top 20,000 private corporations, provided, however, that its authority as a withholding agent shall be effective only upon receipt of written notice from the CIR that it has been classified as a large taxpayer, as well as one of the top 20,000 private corporations. The following are some of the reasons wherein a taxpayer shall automatically cease to be a withholding agent, and therefore no prior written notice, is required, to wit: a. Closure/cessation of business/dissolution (for taxpayer with notice of dissolution given to the BIR); b. Merger/consolidation (for dissolved or absorbed corporation); and c. Any other form of business combination wherein by operation of law a corporate taxpayer loses its juridical personality. The withholding agent shall submit on a semestral basis a list of its regular suppliers of goods and/or services to the Large Taxpayers Assistance Division/Large Taxpayers District Office in the case of large taxpayers duly notified as such, pursuant to RR 1-98, as amended, or Revenue District Office having jurisdiction over the withholding agent’s principal place of business on or before July 31 and January 31 of each year. A government-owned or controlled corporation previously classified as one of the top 5,000 corporations under RR No. 12-94, as amended, shall cease to be a withholding agent or included in the top 20,000 private corporations but rather shall be treated as one, since it is already withholding 1% or 2% of the amount paid for the purchase of goods/services from local/resident suppliers. The CIR may recommend to the Secretary of Finance the amendment/ modification of any or all of the criteria in the determination and selection of taxpayers forming part of the top 20,000 private corporations after considering such factors as inflation, volume of business, and similar factors. Provided, however, that the CIR is empowered to conduct periodic review as to the number of taxpayers who ceased to qualify under the category of top 20,000 private corporations, for purposes of delisting them or excluding them from the list, and to identify taxpayers to be added to the list of top 20,000 private corporations. All taxpayers previously included in the list of top 5,000 private corporations under RR No. 12-94, as amended, and those who qualified as top 10,000 private corporations under RR No. 17-2003 shall continue to withhold 1% for supplier of goods and 2% for supplier of services upon the effectivity of these Regulations, unless any of the following situations occur: a. The CIR communicates in writing that they have ceased to qualify as taxpayers includible in the list of top 20,000 private corporations, or b. Those officially identified to have ceased business operations, or undergone any of the business combinations wherein by operation of law the juridical personality of said taxpayers ceased.