Question & AnswerQ&A (BIR REVENUE REGULATIONS NO. 12-2011)
The objective is to ensure all owners or sub-lessors of commercial establishments/buildings/spaces lease only to BIR-registered taxpayers and to establish procedures for the submission of essential information by owners, including imposing appropriate sanctions for non-compliance.
All owners or sub-lessors of commercial establishments/buildings/spaces who are leasing or renting out such spaces, as well as their tenants engaged in commercial activities, are required to comply with registration requirements set by the BIR.
They must submit under oath: a building/space layout with proper unit referencing; certified true copies of contracts of lease per tenant; and a Lessee Information Statement in the prescribed format (Excel format printed and soft copy on CD-R).
Twice yearly: by January 31 for tenants as of December 31 of the previous year, and by July 31 for tenants as of June 30 of the current year.
It must include the name of the owner/lessor, TIN, address; location of building/space; tenant's name, leased area, monthly rental, lease start date, lease duration, BIR registration profile including TIN, authority to print number for official receipts/invoices, and POS/CRM permit if applicable.
The RDO must monitor compliance, validate the tenants' registration profile using the BIR Integrated Tax System database, maintain the data for audits, and forward the reports to the RDO where the owner or sub-lessor is registered.
They can face penalties under Section 255 of the Tax Code, including fines of not less than P10,000 and imprisonment from 1 to 10 years, and under Section 267 for filing false statements under oath, subjected to perjury penalties.
The TIN is a mandatory identifier proving that the lessor and tenant are BIR-registered taxpayers; it is used by the BIR to validate compliance with tax registration and reporting requirements.
The initial filing must include tenants as of July 31, 2011, and must be submitted by September 1, 2011, with building/space layout, certified true copy of contracts of lease, and Lessee Information Statement both in printed and soft copy formats.
It mandates owners to ensure that all tenants are BIR-registered to prevent unregistered business operations, and requires reporting and validation of tenants to reduce tax evasion.