By Chino S. Leyco

 

The Department of Finance (DOF) slammed the Board of Accountancy (BOA) for insisting an additional red tape that is tedious and costly for taxpayers particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

 

Finance Undersecretary Antoinette C. Tionko said BOA is still insisting to require taxpayers to submit compilation reports despite the decision of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to do away with this requirement.

 

Attaching the compilation reports to the audited financial statements of businesses filed by taxpayers is tedious and costly, Tionko said.

 

The compilation reports, which come from public accountants (CPAs) accredited by the BOA, is on top of the independent auditor’s certificate already required by the BIR and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

 

Tionko said the compilation reports cannot be prepared by just any CPA but should be done by those accredited by the BOA, which requires them to undergo 120 hours of paid seminars per year.

 

Last year, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 21-2016 informing all revenue officials and employees of the BOA resolution requiring the submission of the certified compilation reports, along with the audited financial statements in filing ITRs beginning December 31, 2016.

 

This circular, however, has already been amended by the BIR with its issuance of RMC  16-2017 last February 22, which states that only the existing documentary requirements in the filing of ITRs will now be required by the Bureau “in line with the government’s thrust on improving ease of doing business and streamlining bureaucratic requirements.”

 

These “existing documentary requirements” pertains only to the submission of the audited financial statements, and, in certain cases, an attached audit certificate along with the ITR, and does not include the compilation certificate, Tionko said.

 

Tionko noted that despite the BIR circular, the BOA, in a resolution, pointed out that this requirement is legally allowed under the Philippine Accountancy Act of 2004 and has even warned CPAs to comply with the BOA requirement to avoid facing sanctions.

 

According to DOF Assistant Secretary Mark Joven, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has also complained before the SEC about the BOA’s requirement of submitting the compilation reports.

 

The PCCI said the compilation report is “unnecessary and redundant” because businesses were already required to submit a duly signed Statement of Management Responsibility together with the financial statement, but also adds to the cost of doing business, especially for SMEs.

 

Besides the PCCI, small accountancy practitioners and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) have also sought a temporary restraining order against the other requirements on CPAs imposed by the BOA, he said.

 

Tionko said the DOF has already relayed its concerns regarding BOA’s refusal to cooperate with the anti-red tape campaign to the Professional Regulation Commission, which has supervision over the BOA.

 

SOURCE: http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/03/11/dof-slams-board-of-accountancy-for-insisting-on-additional-red-tape/