BIR Open Cases CMS Stop filer Case Monitoring System

Open Cases refers to the tax returns and reportorial requirements that did not reach the data warehouse of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). For failure to file these documents, a taxpayer is at risk from being charged civilly, administratively and criminally. Inadvertent failure to file the alphalist does not only entail payment of monetary/compromise penalties, but likewise translates to an “open case” with the BIR. The term open case refers to a pending action against a taxpayer for failure to file a return, or filing a return that was not captured by the BIR's system. Last Aug. 18, 2014, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 70-2014 which clarifies the requirements for the issuance of certifications on outstanding tax liabilities/delinquency verification slips for purposes of processing the payment of claims for tax refund, cash conversion of TCCs and VAT monetization under Executive Order (EO) Nos. 68 and 68-A. Said RMC aims to protect the interest of the government by ensuring that tax refunds, cash conversion of TCCs and VAT monetization are not granted to delinquent taxpayers. According to the RMC, in case the taxpayer has “stop-filer cases”, the validity of the same shall be determined by the concerned revenue offices, which may pertain to Revenue District Offices (RDOs), Regional Collection Divisions, concerned offices of the Large Taxpayers Services, Accounts Receivable Monitoring Division or other revenue offices of the BIR. The certifications/verification slips must indicate valid “stop-filer cases”. The processing of payment of claims for tax refund, cash conversion of TCCs and VAT monetization (applications) shall be held in abeyance pending the resolution of the stop-filer cases. Use of Case Monitoring System (CMS) or eLAMS – involves the utilization of
a Case Monitoring System/eLAMS to regularly monitor outstanding Letters of Authority in order to require mandatory observance of the period to audit and to track progress of audit cases.