The gloves are off at the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

After months of review, pushback, and pressure from taxpayers, the BIR is rolling out a hard reset of its audit system—this time with clearer rules, tighter controls, and fewer excuses for abuse. And make no mistake: Finance Secretary Frederick Go and BIR Commissioner Atty. Charlito Martin Mendoza owns this overhaul.

Speaking at a press briefing, Go made it clear that the Marcos administration is done with the old audit culture—one that businesses long complained was chaotic, repetitive, and vulnerable to harassment. Field audits, suspended since November, are set to resume—but under a new rulebook designed to restore trust while keeping revenue collection firmly on track.

“This is about fairness, predictability, and accountability,” Go said, signaling that enforcement will be firm but no longer arbitrary.

MENDOZA: AUDITS ARE BACK—BUT WITH RULES

Commissioner Mendoza confirmed that a Revenue Memorandum Circular will soon be issued, formally lifting the suspension on Letters of Authority (LOAs) and field audits. Once signed, revenue officers will be back on the ground—but only within strict boundaries.

And that’s the point.

Under Mendoza’s watch, the BIR is scrapping practices that allowed multiple audits, overlapping investigations, and confusion at the expense of taxpayers. The message from the top: no more fishing expeditions.

WHAT CHANGED—AND WHY IT HURTS ABUSERS

At the heart of the reform is a single-instance audit rule. One taxpayer. One taxable year. One audit. One LOA. Period.

That alone cuts off a long-criticized loophole where businesses were hit with repeated or overlapping audits—sometimes by different units, sometimes for the same issues.

The BIR is also abolishing VAT audit units and task forces, long viewed as parallel power centers that duplicated work and muddied accountability. Audit authority is now centralized—limited to regional offices and the Large Taxpayers Service—tightening control and narrowing discretion.

For revenue officers used to operating in gray areas, the new system is a wake-up call.

DIGITAL CHECKS, REAL CONSEQUENCES

In a move aimed squarely at transparency, taxpayers can now verify audit orders through the BIR’s REVI chatbot. Fake or questionable LOAs? Easier to spot. Surprise visits? Easier to challenge.

Oversight has also been sharpened, with stricter documentation and clearer procedures that make examiners personally accountable for how audits are conducted.

THE REAL MESSAGE

This isn’t about going soft. It’s about going clean.

With collections still a top government priority, Go and Mendoza are betting that disciplined enforcement—not chaos—will deliver results. Businesses get clearer rules. Abusive practices lose oxygen. And revenue officers are reminded that power now comes with paper trails.

Bottom line:
Audits are back. But the era of random, repetitive, and abusive tax examinations is on notice. Under Go and Mendoza, the BIR is signaling a tougher, cleaner, rules-based approach—one that hits hard on non-compliance, but leaves less room for abuse.

For taxpayers and examiners alike, the message is blunt:
Follow the rules—or answer for it.

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