ACCOUNTANTS need not follow the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) policy requiring them to disclose their service fees and clients at the start of the year after getting reprieve from the Supreme Court (SC).
The SC Public Information Office (SC PIO) said Wednesday the justices favored the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against BIR Revenue Regulation No. 4-2014. The same regulation is the subject of a TRO secured earlier by lawyers and physicians.
"The TRO is effective immediately until further orders from the Court," the SC PIO said.
A copy of the petition of the Association of Small Accounting Practitioners in the Philippines Inc. is not immediately available as the Court directed Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and BIR Commissioner Kim Henares last week to comment within 10 days.
The SC then acted on the application for a TRO on Wednesday.
Section 2 of R.R. No. 4-2014 requires all self-employed professionals to submit an affidavit indicating the rates, manner of billings and the factors they consider in determining their service fees upon registration on or before January 31 of each year and register the books of accounts and official appointment books which shall contain the names of the client and date or time of the meeting.
They must also issue a BIR-registered receipt showing a 100 percent discount in cases when no professional fees are charged. (Sunnex)