The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has announced that it has developed an Interactive BIR Citizen’s Charter, now available on its website.
Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 1-2023 states that the Interactive Citizen’s Charter was developed “in line with the Bureau’s implementation of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Service Delivery Act of 2018, requiring all government agencies to have its own Citizen’s Charter posted in its website.”
By making the Charter interactive, BIR said navigation and access to its contents are made easier for the taxpayers/other users while also making it easier for BIR content owners (identified BIR offices) to upload their contents.
A revenue memorandum order will be issued to prescribe the policies and responsibilities of identified BIR offices that will implement the regular updating of information posted in the Charter.
The Charter features the agency’s mandate, mission, vision, and service pledge. For the interactive section, it contains a list of clickable links to services provided by the Revenue District Office (RDO), Revenue Region (RR) and National Office (NO).
The RDO list enumerates 31 external services, ranging from online application for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of local employee and processing of application for registration of Books of Accounts to processing of request for Certification of Certificate of Registration/Authority to Print/TIN Card and processing of Delinquency Verification Certificate.
There are seven RR external services, such as processing of Tax Clearance Certificate, and one RR internal service available.
The National Office lists 92 external services and 88 internal services. External services cover processing of requests and applications for various permits, certifications, renewals, registrations, issuances, and clearances, among others.
Clicking on a link brings the user to the relevant page. For example, clicking on “Processing of Application for Taxpayer Identification Number Card” brings the taxpayer to the page which provides the needed information such as checklist of documentary requirements, where to secure the documents, client steps to take, agency actions, fees to be paid, processing time, and the BIR officers responsible.
Republic Act No. 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Law, is an act that aims to streamline the systems and procedures of government services by reducing processing time, eliminating red tape, and curbing corrupt bureaucratic practices.
The EODB Law states that all applications or requests must be acted upon within three working days for simple transactions and seven working days for complex transactions. For applications or requests that are highly technical, the processing time shall in no case be longer than 20 working days. To ensure that the application is not buried in red tape, the number of signatories is limited to three officers directly supervising the office or agency concerned.
All applications duly submitted to an agency will be automatically approved if they fail to process the application within the prescribed timeframe.
One of the key reforms of the EODB Law is the Citizen’s Charter. All government agencies and local government units are required to post their Citizen’s Charter containing their most current and updated service standards.
The Citizen’s Charter details the following:
• A checklist of all the requirements for each type of application or request • The procedure for obtaining a particular service • The person/s responsible for each step • The maximum time needed to accomplish a request • The necessary documents to be presented, if needed • Fees required, if needed • The procedure for filing complaints
The BIR Interactive Citizen’s Charter is available at <a href="http://www.bir.gov.ph/" target="_self">www.bir.gov.ph</a> under Quick Links and BIR Transparency Seal.

Interactive BIR Citizen’s Charter now available