VAT RELIEF Information Update 2012

1) What is "RELIEF"?
RELIEF means Reconciliation of Listings for Enforcement. It supports the third party information
program of the Bureau through the cross referencing of third party information from the
taxpayers' Summary Lists of Sales and Purchases prescribed to be submitted on a quarterly
basis.
2) Who are required to submit Summary List of Sales?
Effective January 1, 2012 - RR 01-2012, All VAT taxpayers are required to submit the quarterly
summary list of sales (SLS). The requirement previously applies to VAT-registered taxpayers with
total quarterly sales/ receipts (net of VAT) exceeding P2.5 M.
3) Who are required to submit Summary List of Purchases?
Effective January 1, 2012- RR 01-2012, All VAT taxpayers are required to submit the quarterly
summary list of purchases (SLP). The requirement previously applies to VAT-registered taxpayers
with total quarterly total purchases (net of VAT) exceeding P1M.
4) What are the Summary Lists required to be submitted?
a) Quarterly Summary List of Sales to Regular Buyers/Customers and Casual Buyers/Customers
and Output Tax;
b) Quarterly Summary List of Local Purchases and Input tax; and
c) Quarterly Summary List of Importation
5) Who are "Casual Buyers/Customers?
Casual Buyers/Customers refer to buyers/customers who are engaged in business/ exercise of
profession but did not qualify as regular buyers/customers, the amount of individual transaction
is P 100,000 or more but did not qualify as regular buyers/customers.
6) Who are "Regular Buyers/Customers?
They shall refer to buyers/customers who are engaged in business or exercise of profession with
whom the taxpayer has transacted at least six (6) transactions in the previous year or current
year, regardless of the amount of sale per transaction.
7) What are the contents of the Quarterly Summary List of Sales to Regular
Buyers/Customers and Casual Buyers/Customers and Output Tax?
The Quarterly Summary List of Sales to regular buyers/customers and casual buyers/customers
and output tax shall indicate the following:
a) BIR Registered Name of the Buyer who is engaged in business/exercise of profession
b) TIN of the Buyer for sales subject to VAT
c) Exempt Sales

d) Zero-Rated Sales
e) Sales Subject to VAT (exclusive of VAT)
f) Output Tax (VAT on Sales)
8) What are the contents of the Quarterly Summary List of Local Purchases and Input
Tax?
The Quarterly Summary List of Local Purchases and Input Tax shall indicate the following:
a) BIR Registered Name of the Seller/Supplier/Service Provider
b) Address of Seller/Supplier/Service Provider
c) Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of the Seller
d) Exempt Purchases
e) Zero-Rated Purchases
f) Purchases Subject to VAT (Exclusive of VAT) On Services
On Capital Goods
On Goods and Other than Capital Goods
g) Creditable Input Tax
h) Non-Creditable Input Tax
9) What are the contents of the Quarterly Summary List of Importations?
The Quarterly Summary List of Importations shall indicate the following:
a) Import Entry Declaration Number
b) Assessment /Release Date
c) Date of importation
d) Name of Seller
e) Country of Origin
f) Dutiable Value
g) All Charges Before release from the Customs' Custody
h) Landed Cost:
Exempt
Taxable (Subject to VAT)
i) VAT Paid
j) Official Receipt (OR) No. of the Official Receipt Evidencing Payment of the Tax
k) Date of VAT Payment
10) When and where will taxpayers file/submit the Quarterly Summary List of Sales
and Purchases?
The quarterly summary list of sales or purchases whichever is applicable shall be submitted to
the RDO or LTDO or LTAD having jurisdiction over the taxpayer on or before the twenty-fifth
(25th) day of the month following the close of each taxable quarter.
11) Can the VAT withheld and paid for the non-resident recipient, which VAT is passed
on to the resident withholding agent by the non-resident recipient of the income, be
claimed as an input tax?

Yes. It can be claimed as an input tax by the said VAT registered Withholding Agent upon filing
his own VAT return, subject to the rules on allocation of input tax among taxable, zero-rated and
exempt sales.
12) How to file/submit the Quarterly Summary List of Sales and Purchases (VAT
RELIEF)?

The Quarterly List of Sales and Purchases can be submitted manually to BIR office in
magnetic form using 3.5 inch floppy diskette, CD or USB following the format provided
under Section 4.114 of RR No.16-2005 together with the accomplished VAT RELIEF
transmittal form.

Through electronic filing facility for taxpayers under the jurisdiction of of Large Taxpayers
Service (LTS) and those enrolled under the EFPS. The VAT relief dat files can be emailed
to esubmission@bir.gov.ph subject for verification and approval of BIR.

13) What is the penalty for failure to submit the quarterly summary list in the
prescribed manner?
Administrative Penalty
P 1,000 - For each failure to file, keep or supply the required documents
Aggregate amount not to exceed P 25,000 for the taxable year
Criminal Penalty
Willful failure to keep any record or to supply the information at the time or times required shall
be subject to the criminal penalty under the Tax Code of 1997.
*Compromise on such violation SHALL NOT relieve the violating taxpayer from the obligation to
submit the required documents.
RELIEF Technical Queries
1) What needs to be done to resolve errors occurring during the use of the RELIEF
system?
Make sure that there is only one session of RELIEF active at all times. Close all RELIEF sessions
and re-activate again. Make sure that a clean copy of the installer disk is on hand. Get the latest
copy from a nearest Revenue District Office or Revenue Data Center or download from the BIR
website at www.bir.gov.ph.
2) Is it possible to use the system for more than one company in a single PC? (For
accounting and law firms taking charge of transactions of numerous companies)
Yes. Create new folder/s in your root directory. Rename the folder/s with the company name for
identification purposes. Copy all the contents of the folder BIR_RLF and paste into each of the
newly created folders. Then create shortcuts for the BIRRLF.EXE file found in each folder and
paste them to your desktop. It is also recommended to rename these files affixing them with the

name of the company (for example: ABC Company_Data Entry). Make sure that Owner
Information is changed / updated for newly created folders.
3) How can the user resolve the error "The Input Tax/Output Tax must be equivalent
to 10% of the transaction" that occurs during validation?
If this is the only error, the user could ignore this error and proceed to submitting the summary
lists since the RDO has the updated validation module. The user could also request for a copy of
the URLFVALID.EXE file from the RDO to update their RELIEF Validation module. They only need
to decompress the file in the root directory of their PC.
4) What is the prescribed screen resolution for the user to view all available
options/buttons after selecting a type of transaction?
Check the settings of the screen display (desktop) by going to the Control Panel then go to
Display and adjust the screen setting to 800x600 or 1024x768 resolution.
5) Can the user submit their summary list using their own extract program?
The user may use their own extract program provided that their system has the ability to convert
the database files into comma delimited text files. Have their IT department develop a script
within their database program to do this. Please refer to the prescribed templates / file formats
available at RDO or they can download the technical annexes from the BIR website.
User can also submit using the excel format as long as it conforms with the BIR file format under
RMC 24-2002. User can ask their RDO for a copy of the Excel templates for their guidance.
6) Where can the users get the RELIEF installer, technical annexes and job-aids?
They can get copies from the RDO or RDC. If they have access to the internet, they can access
the BIR webpage (www.bir.gov.ph) then go to BIR FORMS. Click on the 2550Q form to go to the
location of the downloadable installers, annexes and job-aids.
7) How can the user successfully validate a generated file (.DAT) if upon clicking the
Validate File button, a BIR System Message stating "Command contains unrecognized
phrase/keyword. Error Number: 36" appeared?
The user must make sure that the generated file is not located inside a folder where the folder
name contains spaces. The user can rename the folder wherein blank spaces are replaced with
underscores. The user can get the update patch from his RDO or from the web to update their
Validation module.
8) How will the user remove or uninstall the RELIEF program from the computer?
Select RUN from the Taskbar Start Menu then type C:\BIR_RLF\SETUP\SETUP.EXE, press the Enter
key and follow the prompts.
9) For users who will submit using the Excel format, what is the prescribed formula
for computations?

Users always encounter the "Header not equal to total details" Error during validation. All
computations in the Excel format must be rounded off to the nearest 2 decimal places. (For
example: L3=J3*K3 - it must be L3=round(J3*K3,2))