Requesting Entity: Philippine International Trading Corporation

Issues Concern: Submission of Manually-Filed Income Tax Return

Details

Whether suppliers, especially small companies, who wish to participate in Negotiated Procurement (Small Value) under Section 53.9 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184, may submit manually-filed Income Tax Returns (ITR)

As a rule, the submission of EFPS-filed tax returns is mandatory for all prospective bidders as provided for under Executive Order (EO) No. 398 and Revenue Regulation (RR) No. 3-2005, which have been adopted in GPPB Circular No. 2-2005 stating that tax returns and tax clearance as required by the aforementioned regulations shall also be required to be submitted by bidders in addition to Class “A” Documents under Section 23.1 of the IRR in case of procurement conducted through Public Bidding.

However, the revised IRR of RA 9184 is silent whether or not eligibility documents mentioned under Section 23.1 are likewise required when resorting to any of the Alternative Methods of procurement such as Negotiated Procurement (Small Value). This being the case, the Procuring Entity (PE) has the discretion to determine the applicable documents to be submitted to ensure that it is entering into a contract with a technically, legally and financially capable supplier, contractor or consultant by requiring the submission of relevant documents or through other means.