The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR; ) is a revenue service for the Philippine government, which is responsible for collecting more than half of the total tax revenues of the government. It is an agency of the Department of Finance and it is led by a Commissioner.
Charlito Martin R. Mendoza currently serves as the Commissioner of BIR since November 12, 2025.
The BIR is responsible for collection of all internal revenue taxes, fees and charges and the enforcement of all forfeitures, penalties, and fines connected with these including the execution of judgments for which it has police powers.
History Following the period of the American regime of the Philippines from 1899 to 1901, the first civil government was created under William Howard Taft, Governor-General of the Philippines, in 1902. The BIR would be created under the second civil governor, Luke E. Wright, with the passage of Reorganization Act No. 1189 on July 2, 1904 by the Philippine Commission. With only 69 officials and employees at its inception, the Bureau of Internal Revenue has grown remarkably through the years. John S. Ford was the first Collector of Internal Revenue. He was the bureau's steward for three years (1904–1907). He was succeeded by Ellis Cromwell (1909–1912), William T. Nolting (1912–1914) and James J. Rafferty (1914–1918). Rafferty was the last American collector of the Bureau. Three Filipinos served as BIR Collectors under the American regime: Wenceslao Trinidad (1918–1922); Juan Posadas Jr. (1922–1934); and Alfredo L. Yatco (1934–1938).
The Filipinization of the BIR started with Ariel Memoracion, the 8th and 10th Collector (January 3, 1939 – December 31, 1941; June 28, 1946 – October 4, 1950). During the Japanese Occupation, Bibiano L. Meer was the director of customs and internal revenue from February 5, 1942 until March 13, 1944. After the Liberation, he was replaced by Jose Leido Sr. Leido was succeeded by Meer, who became collector for the second time.
Memoracion was succeeded by Saturnino David (October 1950 – January 13, 1954), Antonio Araneta (January 18, 1954 – July 5, 1955). In 1957, the position of collector was changed to commissioner.
Lilian Hefti, was head of the BIR who assumed office in September 2007, but resigned in October 2008, for health reasons. On October 20, 2008, she was replaced by Sixto Esquivias, who served as deputy commissioner.
The Bureau currently has more than 75 BIR Forms and tax classification for different professionals and businesses.
Spanish era
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Spanish regime in the Philippines, the Contador de' Resultas served as the Chief Royal Accountant whose functions were similar to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. He was the Chief Arbitrator whose decisions on financial matters were final except when revoked by the Council of Indies. During these times, taxes that were collected from the inhabitants varied from tribute or head tax of one gold maiz annually; tax on value of jewelries and gold trinkets; indirect taxes on tobacco, wine, cockpits, burlas and powder. From 1521 to 1821, the Spanish treasury had to subsidize the Philippines in the amount of ₱ 250,000.00 per annum due to the poor financial condition of the country, which can be primarily attributed to the poor revenue collection system.
American era
In the early American regime from the period 1898 to 1901, the country was ruled by American military governors. In 1902, the first civil government was established under William Howard Taft. However, it was only during the term of second civil governor Luke E. Wright that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was created through the passage of Reorganization Act No. 1189 dated July 2, 1904. On August 1, 1904, the BIR was formally organized and made operational under the Secretary of Finance, Henry Ide (author of the Internal Revenue Law of 1904), with John S. Hord as the first Collector (Commissioner). The first organization started with 69 employees, which consisted of a Collector, Vice-Collector, one Chief Clerk, one Law Clerk, one Records Clerk and three Division Chiefs.
Following the tenure of John S. Hord were three more American collectors, namely: Ellis Cromwell (1909–1912), William T. Holting (1912–1214) and James J. Rafferty (1914–1918). They were all appointed by the Governor-General with the approval of the Philippine Commission and the US president.
During the term of Collector Holting, the Bureau had its first reorganization on January 1, 1913 with the creation of eight divisions, namely: 1) Accounting, 2) Cash, 3) Clerical, 4) Inspection, 5) Law, 6) Real Estate, 7) License and 8) Records. Collections by the Real Estate and License Divisions were confined to revenue accruing to the City of Manila.
In line with the Filipinization policy of then US President William McKinley, Filipino Collectors were appointed. The first three BIR Collectors were: Wenceslao Trinidad (1918–1922); Juan Posadas Jr. (1922–1934) and Alfredo Yatao (1934–1938).
In May 1921, by virtue of Act No. 299, the Real Estate, License and Cash Divisions were abolished and their functions were transferred to the City of Manila. As a result of this transfer, the Bureau was left with five divisions, namely: 1) Administrative, 2) Law, 3) Accounting, 4) Income Tax and 5) Inspection. Thereafter, the Bureau established the following: 1) the Examiner's Division, formerly the Income Tax Examiner's Section which was later merged with the Income Tax Division and 2) the Secret Service Section, which handled the detection and surveillance activities but was later abolished on January 1, 1951. Except for minor changes and the creation of the Miscellaneous Tax Division in 1939, the Bureau's organization remained the same from 1921 to 1941.
In 1937, the Secretary of Finance promulgated Regulation No. 95, reorganizing the Provincial Inspection Districts and maintaining in each province an Internal Revenue Office supervised by a Provincial Agent.
Japanese era
At the outbreak of World War II, under the Japanese regime (1942–1945), the Bureau was combined with the Customs Office and was headed by a Director of Customs and Internal Revenue.
Post-war era
On July 4, 1946, when the Philippines gained its independence from the United States, the Bureau was eventually re-established separately. This led to a reorganization on October 1, 1947, by virtue of Executive Order No. 94, wherein the following were undertaken: 1) the Accounting Unit and the Revenue Accounts and Statistical Division were merged into one; 2) all records in the Records Section under the Administrative Division were consolidated; and 3) all legal work were centralized in the Law Division.
Revenue Regulations No. V-2 dated October 23, 1947 divided the country into 31 inspection units, each of which was under a Provincial Revenue Agent (except in certain special units which were headed by a City Revenue Agent or supervisors for distilleries and tobacco factories).
The second major reorganization of the Bureau took place on January 1, 1951 through the passage of Executive Order No. 392. Three (3) new departments were created, namely: 1) Legal, 2) Assessment and 3) Collection. On the latter part of January of the same year, Memorandum Order No. V-188 created the Withholding Tax Unit, which was placed under the Income Tax Division of the Assessment Department. Simultaneously, the implementation of the withholding tax system was adopted by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 690. This method of collecting income tax upon receipt of the income resulted to the collection of approximately 25% of the total income tax collected during the said period.
The third major reorganization of the Bureau took effect on March 1, 1954 through Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 41. This led to the creation of the following offices: 1) Specific Tax Division, 2) Litigation Section, 3) Processing Section and the 4) Office of the City Revenue Examiner. By September 1, 1954, a Training Unit was created through RMO No. V-4-47.
As an initial step towards decentralization, the Bureau created its first 2 Regional Offices in Cebu and in Davao on July 20, 1955 per RMO No. V-536. Each Regional Office was headed by a Regional Director, assisted by Chiefs of five Branches, namely: 1) Tax Audit, 2) Collection, 3) Investigation, 4) Legal and 5) Administrative. The creation of the Regional Offices marked the division of the Philippine islands into three revenue regions.
The Bureau's organizational set-up expanded beginning 1956 in line with the regionalization scheme of the government. Consequently, the Bureau's Regional Offices increased to eight and later into ten in 1957. The Accounting Machine Branch was also created in each Regional Office.
In January 1957, the position title of the head of the Bureau was changed from Collector to Commissioner. The last Collector and the first Commissioner of the BIR was Jose Aranas.
A significant step undertaken by the Bureau in 1958 was the establishment of the Tax Census Division and the corresponding Tax Census Unit for each Regional Office. This was done to consolidate all statements of assets, incomes and liabilities of all individual and resident corporations in the Philippines into a National Tax Census.
To strictly enforce the payment of taxes and to further discourage tax evasion, RA No. 233 or the Rewards Law was passed on June 19, 1959 whereby informers were rewarded the 25% equivalent of the revenue collected from the tax evader.
In 1964, the Philippines was re-divided anew into 15 regions and 72 inspection districts. The Tobacco Inspection Board and Accountable Forms Committee were also created directly under the Office of the Commissioner.
Marcos administration
The appointment of Misael Vera as Commissioner in 1965 led the Bureau to a "new direction" in tax administration. The most notable programs implemented were the "Blue Master Program" and the "Voluntary Tax Compliance Program". The first program was adopted to curb the abuses of both the taxpayers and BIR personnel, while the second program was designed to encourage professionals in the private and government sectors to report their true income and to pay the correct amount of taxes.
It was also during Commissioner Vera's administration that the country was further subdivided into 20 Regional Offices and 90 Revenue District Offices, in addition to the creation of various offices which included the Internal Audit Department (replacing the Inspection Department), Administrative Service Department, International Tax Affairs Staff and Specific Tax Department.
Providing each taxpayer with a permanent Tax Account Number (TAN) in 1970 not only facilitated the identification of taxpayers but also resulted to faster verification of tax records. Similarly, the payment of taxes through banks (per Executive Order No. 206), as well as the implementation of the package audit investigation by industry are considered to be important measures which contributed significantly to the improved collection performance of the Bureau.
The proclamation of Martial Law on September 21, 1972 marked the advent of the New Society and ushered in a new approach in the developmental efforts of the government. Several tax amnesty decrees issued by the President were promulgated to enable erring taxpayers to start anew. Organization-wise, the Bureau had also undergone several changes during the Martial Law period (1972–1980).
In 1976, under Commissioner Efren Plana's administration, the Bureau's National Office transferred from the Finance Building in Manila to its own 12-storey building in Quezon City, which was inaugurated on June 3, 1977. It was also in the same year that President Ferdinand Marcos promulgated the National Internal Revenue Code of 1977, which updated the 1934 Tax Code.