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Senate to monitor LOA: Sen. Raffy Tulfo urges the Committee on Ways and Means to exercise its oversight power to monitor all letters of authority (LOA) issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) because the LOA has reportedly become a source of corruption, particularly in several special economic zones. During Tuesday’s hearing, November 28, 2023, Tulfo said it is about time to monitor the LOA since it has become a milking cow for many unscrupulous government officials resulting in the lost of millions of pesos in revenue due to corruption. “I want a list of LOAs in the last 3 years, and then we should have an assigned group of people to do a thorough follow up on what happened to the LOAs, how much did the government earn out of those LOAs, and if there are none, there should be a case filed,”Tulfo said. The LOA is issued by the BIR to initiate a tax audit or investigation of a taxpayer. It authorizes BIR examiners to assess the taxpayer's compliance with tax laws, verify the accuracy of financial records, and determine the correct amount of taxes due. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)