Probe of BIR requirement of TIN for coops sought

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SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian yesterday said he would seek an inquiry into a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) requirement that threatens the tax exemption privileges of cooperatives in the country.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, specifically pointed to the BIR requirement for cooperative members to present a Taxpayers Identification Number when obtaining a Certificate of Exemption as contained in Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 124-2020.

The revenue memorandum stated that the requirement for a TIN is based on a provision in the 1997 National Internal Revenue Code which states that any person required under the Code to make, render, or file a return, statement, or other document must be assigned and supplied with a TIN.

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But Gatchalian said the BIR’s requirement for all cooperative members to submit a TIN is not a prerequisite for tax exemption under the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.

“The tax exemption granted by law to cooperatives is under threat because of this BIR requirement,” Gatchalian said, adding his call for a Senate inquiry on the matter is contained in Senate Resolution 1236 which he filed.

Imposing the requirement, the senator added, would be difficult for cooperative members to comply with as most of them come from the informal sector of the economy, who often see no need to get a TIN.

“Cooperatives are designed to empower our poor constituents, especially those in the informal sector. But the BIR requirement has created a lot of confusion and discouragement. For example, if you have market vendors as coop members, you cannot just force them to get a TIN,” Gatchalian said, adding his office has received complaints from cooperatives in Valenzuela City.

He added he also received reports of BIR revenue district officers refusing to accept TIN applications from cooperatives, while others set a limit on the number of TIN applications a cooperative can process each day.

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