MANUALLY prepared Letters of Authority (LAs) shall be replaced with electronic LAs starting on the date of effectivity of the 2010 Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Audit Program. The electronic LA shall be issued at all investigating offices under the regional offices, the Large Taxpayers Service, the Enforcement Service, and the various task forces and special teams authorized by the BIR Commissioner to conduct the audit and investigations.
To secure an electronic LA, the concerned BIR officials and employees shall make use of the facilities of the Letter of Authority Monitoring System in the filing, processing and approval of requests for issuance of electronic LAs, as well as its generation and printing.
The electronic LA shall bear the name, designation and electronic signature of the approving BIR official. Moreover, the electronic LA shall have a system-generated serial number that indicates the date of its issuance, and a notation stating that the taxpayer is requested to verify the validity of the LA with the authorized BIR official at the address and contact information provided in the electronic LA. (Revenue Memorandum Order 44-2010, May 12, 2010)
Beginning June 1, 2010, the rule on the need for revalidation of LAs for failure of the revenue officer to complete the audit within the 120-day period shall be withdrawn.
Accordingly, there is no need for revalidation of the LA even if the prescribed audit period has been exceeded. However, the failure of the revenue officer to complete the audit within the prescribed period shall be subject to the applicable administrative sanctions. (Source: Punongbayan & Araullo)