Requesting Entity: Kolonwel Trading

Issues Concern: Electronic Filing and Payment Systems (EFPS) and Submission of Eligibility Requirements

Details

Whether the submission of the latest income and business tax returns filed manually, and not through EFPS, is compliant with the requirements under Clause 29.2(b) of the Bid Data Sheet (BDS) of the Philippine Bidding Documents (PBDs).

As a rule, the submission of EFPS-filed tax returns is mandatory for all prospective bidders as provided under EO 398 and RR No. 3-2005, which have been adopted in GPPB Circular No. 2-2005. Although the PBD for Goods, through the BDS recognizes the option to accept tax returns filed either manually or through EFPS, failure by the PE/BAC to indicate and exercise such option would mean that bidders must submit EFPS tax returns.

Whether it is regular and valid to require the winning bidder with the lowest calculated and responsive bid to submit additional requirements (e.g., past income tax returns) which were not included in the Bidding Documents.

PEs are proscribed from requiring additional eligibility requirements. The list of minimum eligibility requirements under the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184 has been streamlined/simplified, such that only those requirements enumerated in Sections 23.1, 24.1, and 25.1 of the IRR are necessary for purposes of determining bidders’ eligibility.

Whether a new Joint Venture (JV), which necessarily does not have income or business tax returns for the past years, is required to submit EFPS-filed income and business tax returns for the past years.

Sections 3.2 and 3.3 of RR No. 3-2005 define what would constitute the latest ITR and business tax return, respectively. For a new establishment having no annual ITR, the latest ITR refers to the most recent quarter’s ITR, while the latest business tax return of a new establishment with less than six (6) months operations refers to the monthly business tax return filed as of date of submission of bids. Thus, a new JV is not required to submit EFPS-filed income tax and business tax returns for past years, but in lieu thereof, it should submit the most recent quarterly ITR and monthly business tax returns.