BIR examiners still into ‘extortion,’ Senate told

Sen. Bam Aquino — File photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) on Friday said corruption within the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has continued with examiners still extorting millions from entrepreneurs. This comes despite an order from the tax bureau last year to suspend all field audits and related operations, including the issuance of a letter of authority (LOA), which authorizes revenue officers to audit a taxpayer’s books of accounts. Yolanda dela Cruz, PCCI vice president for the National Capital Region (NCR), said she received a LOA from the BIR demanding a payment of P6 million shortly after she opened a food processing machinery company. Article continues after this advertisement READ: PCCI exec: BIR corruption stays; examiner kickbacks bigger than taxes “I was able to plead with the BIR examiner assigned to us: I am willing to pay but only 10 percent as a help to the government, but I emphasized that all the P600,000 that I will be paying should be with receipts,” Dela Cruz told the Senate committee on trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship. State of MSMEs The committee, chaired by Sen. Bam Aquino, is looking into the state of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. Dela Cruz, who owns Nisco Philippines, said the first BIR examiner agreed, but succeeding examiners also insisted on getting their share. “What the BIR does, which I think everybody is experiencing, is they get more from under-the-table schemes than the one that we are paying to the BIR,” she said. Article continues after this advertisement According to Dela Cruz, her 2022 LOA remains unsettled because the BIR examiner will issue a receipt for only P500,000. “So my point is, if the government will remove all these scrupulous and corrupt BIR examiners, the government will earn more. And until now […] the LOA from 2022 is still pending and the documents we have submitted to the BIR have been sent back, for five times, until they have reached the legal office. We will pay P50,000, it will be returned to the [regional office] and then another next few months [the documents] will be returned again to legal, [then we will pay] another P50,000,” she said. Article continues after this advertisement Extortion continues Aquino said they were under the impression that the issue has already been settled after last year’s Senate blue ribbon panel probe into the alleged misuse, weaponization, and extortion schemes surrounding the LOAs. “I remember we had a blue ribbon hearing on this last year, right? And I know that after that blue ribbon hearing, the situation improved. But I take it that we are back to the old practices like before, where businesspeople are harassed, right?” he asked. Dela Cruz answered in the affirmative, adding that other PCCI members not only in the NCR but in other regions as well have also experienced the same. “Imagine, you are an officer of the PCCI, it’s been years since you started in the industry and even you are subjected to these schemes. Can you imagine how new and smaller players fare?” Aquino said. Channels for complaints Later in the hearing, lawyer James Ellis Lagasca, BIR action officer, said the bureau and its mother agency, the Department of Finance, have channels like the 888 hotline where taxpayers can report issues. He added that the BIR also launched last year an email address, tellthecommissioner@BIR.gov.ph, to receive complaints and concerns relating to audits and the issuance of LOAs. Lagasca assured that complainants’ identity will be protected. Multiple LOAs This is not the first time that BIR examiners have been accused of using LOAs to extort money. In December 2025, Sen. JV Ejercito detailed a modus operandi on how erring BIR personnel allegedly scammed taxpayers. READ: BIR rolls out reforms to curb LOA-linked extortion One of the schemes Ejercito bared at the time was the issuance of multiple LOAs within a taxable year or succeeding taxable years, citing the case of a taxpayer in Quezon City who was issued four LOAs within a span of six months. Ejercito said another taxpayer was also issued four LOAs by the BIR Laoag office—two each for their mini-grocery and eatery. There were also “bloated” tax assessments that had no basis, another modus in the agency based on reports made to Ejercito’s office. The senator also cited the experience of a Bulacan firm with a BIR officer who allegedly offered a lower settlement amount for a P30-million deficiency. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. “They allegedly offered only P1.2 million—P800,000 ‘for the boys’ and P400,000 was reflected on the receipt. The kickback was even larger than the amount on the receipt,” Ejercito said. /das