NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
s. No. 2145
of t!)i? g^nTcti'in’
23 MAY-9 A8:45
RECEIVED BY
Introduced by Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND RATIONALIZED GRANT OF 
REWARDS TO INFORMERS FOR THE DISCOVERY OF VIOLATIONS OF 
INTERNAL REVENUE AND CUSTOMS LAWS
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Republic Act No. 2338, or the Informer's Reward Law, was enacted to help 
Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs to go after tax evaders, tax 
cheats and smugglers. The law provides an award of fifteen percent (15%) of the 
amount recovered to any person who voluntarily gives definite information to the 
BIR and BOC on any tax fraud or smuggling cases that will result to additional 
revenues to the concerned agencies.
However, Section 282 (A) of Republic Act No. 8424, also known as National 
Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, amended RA No. 2338, the informer's 
reward shall amount to 10% of the revenues, surcharges or fees recovered and/or 
fine or penalty imposed and collected or PI million per case, whichever is lower. This 
effectively discourages tax informers to report fraud involvingPlO million or more 
because, no matter how big the tax frauds and liabilities are involved in a case, only 
PI million maximum will be given to the informer.
Under the proposed measure, informers who will provide information on tax 
fraud will be given a reward of up to PIO million, or the equivalent of 10% of the tax


recovered by the government, whichever is lower. For informers on smuggling, a 
reward of up to PIO million will be awarded, or the equivalent of 20% of the total 
value of the confiscated smuggled goods, or whichever is lower. This bill intends to 
encourage public cooperation in reporting tax violations and improvement of tax 
collection, enforcement and administration in the BIR and BOC.
In this light, the immediate passage of this bill is highly recommended.
INGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
s. No. 2145
oC tl)c ^fcrcrarp
23 MAY -9 A 8 45
RECEIVED BV:
Introduced by Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND RATIONALIZED GRANT OF 
REWARDS TO INFORMERS FOR THE DISCOVERY OF VIOLATIONS OF 
INTERNAL REVENUE AND CUSTOMS LAWS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assem bled:
1 
Section. 1. Informer's Reward for the Discovery of Violations of the National
2 
Internal Revenue Code. - Any person, except an internal revenue official or
3 
employee, or any public official or employee or said official's or employee's relative
4 
within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity, who voluntarily gives definite and
5 
sworn information, not yet in the possession of the Bureau of Internal Revenue
6 
(BIR) stating facts personally known to the informer, leading to the discovery of
7 
fraud related to internal revenue laws or violations of any of the provisions thereof,
8 
thereby resulting in the recovery of revenues, surcharges and fees, and/or the
9 
conviction of the guilty party and/or the imposition of any of the fine or penalty,
10 
shall be rewarded In sum equivalent to ten percent (10%) of the revenues,
11 
surcharges or fees recovered and/or fine or penalty imposed and collected or Ten
12 
million pesos (P10,000,000.00) per case, whichever is lower.
13 
The same amount of reward shall also be given to informers in cases where
14 
the violator has offered to compromise the violation of law committed and the offer
15 
has been accepted by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and in such case, the
16 
reward shall be ten percent (10%) or Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00), whichever


1 
is lower, of the amount agreed upon in the compromise and actually collected from
2 
the violator.
3 
Sec. 2. Informer's Reward for Discovery and Seizure of Smuggied Goods. -
4 
Any person, except a customs official or employee, or any public official or employee
5 
or said official's or employee's relative within the third degree of consanguinity or
6 
affinity, who voluntarily gives definite and sworn information, not yet in the
7 
possession of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), stating facts personally known to the
8 
informer leading to the discovery and seizure of smuggled goods shall be rewarded
9 
in an amount equivalent to twenty percent (20%) of the actual proceeds of the sale
10 
of such smuggled and confiscated goods, or of the actual collection of additional
11 
revenues or surcharges or fees recovered and/or fine or penalty imposed and
12 
collected or Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00), whichever is lower.
13 
Sec. 3. Non payment of Informer's Reward. - The informer shall not be
14 
entitled to a reward if no additional revenue, surcharge or fee and/or fine or penalty
15 
is actually recovered or collected in accordance with Sections (1) and (2) of this Act,
16 
or If the information obtained refers to a case already pending or previously
17 
investigated or examined by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or the
18 
Commissioner of Customs, or any of their deputies, agents or examiners, as the case
19 
may be.
20 
The provisions of Sections (1) and (2) notwithstanding, all public officials,
21 
whether incumbent, retired or separated from service, who acquired the Information
22 
in the course of the performance of their duties during their incumbency, are
23 
prohibited from claiming the Informer's reward.
24 
Sec. 4. Fiiing and Claiming of Rewards. - Applications for rewards granted
25 
under this Act shall be filed by the informer with the Office of the Commissioner of
26 
Internal Revenue or the Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, who shall
27 
approve of the same. Rewards granted herein amounting to more than One million
28 
pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall, upon the approval of the reward, be automatically
29 
reviewed by the Secretary of Finance. In both cases, the rewards granted shall be
30 
paid to the informer only after revenues, surcharges or fees and/or fine or penalty
31 
are actually recovered or collected in accordance with law, and after all reports and
32 
documents required for the evaluation and approval of the claim for Informer's


1 
reward, including the endorsement by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or the
2 
Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, shall have been submitted to the
3 
Department of Finance (DOF) in appropriate cases.
4 
In all instances, a definite and sworn information given for the purpose of
5 
claiming the reward shall be filed personally by the person having such information,
6 
prohibiting representation by any other person, organization, or any other similar
7 
group facilitating rewards.
8 
Sec. 5. Rewards Payable from Proceeds. - The reward authorized under this
9 
Act shall be paid out of revenues, surcharges or fees and/or fine or penalty actually
10 
recovered or collected and accounted for in accordance with a law as a result of the
11 
information furnished by the informer and in accordance with the rules and
12 
regulations issued by the Secretary of Finance.
13 
The rewards of the informers shall be subject to income tax, collected as a
14 
final withholding tax, at the rate of twenty percent (20%).
15 
Sec. 6. Confidentiality of Informer's Identity; Penalties for Unauthorized
16 
Disclosure. - It shall be unlawful for any official or employee of the BIR, the BOC, or
17 
the DOF to disclosure or reveal the name of any informer. The identity of the
18 
informer shall not be revealed except:
19 
a) When the informer has given written consent; or
20 
b) When the information that the informer provided is proven to be malicious
21 
or false.
22 
Any provision of general or special law to the contrary notwithstanding,
23 
disclosure of such confidential information shall be punished by a fine of not less
24 
than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) but not more than One million
25 
pesos (P1,000,000.00), and imprisonment of not less than ten (10) years but not
26 
more than fifteen (15) years. The offender shall likewise suffer an additional penalty
27 
of perpetual disqualification to hold public office, to vote and to participate in any
28 
public election.
29 
Sec. 7. Action in Cases Involving False or Malicious Information. - If the
30 
information provided by the informer later turns out to be false or has been made
31 
only for the purpose of harassing, molesting or in any way prejudicing the person so


1 
denounced, the person so denounced is entitled to take criminal or civil action as the
2 
facts may warrant.
3 
Any application which may be found unwarranted based on law or
4 
jurisprudence, or which contains false facts, may be denied for malicious filing and
5 
without prejudice to any action, civil or criminal, against the informer. Any
6 
application that is denied for malicious filing or misrepresentation may not be refiled.
7 
Sec. 8. Appropriations. - All proceeds resulting from the recovery of revenues,
8 
surcharges, fees, and/or imposition of fine or penalty, and/or from the sale of
9 
smuggled and confiscated goods, shall automatically be appropriated as follows:
10 
a) Ten percent (10%) shall be allocated and used as informer's reward in
11 
accordance with Section 1 hereof and ninety percent (90%) shall be
12 
remitted to the General Fund; and
13 
b) Twenty percent (20%) shall be allocated and used as informer's reward in
14 
accordance with Section 2 hereof and eighty percent (80%) shall be
15 
remitted to the General Fund.
16 
The informer's rewards shall be deposited with the National Treasury and
17 
recorded as trust receipts in accordance with E.O. No. 338, s. 1996.
18 
Sec. 9. Impiementing Ruies and Reguiations. - Within thirty (30) days from
19 
the approval of this Act, the Secretary of Finance shall, upon the recommendation of
20 
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Commissioner of Customs,
21 
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of
22 
this Act.
23 
Sec. 10. Separabiiity Cause. - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or
24 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision or part not otherwise
25 
affected shall remain valid and subsisting.
26 
Sec. 11. Repeaiing Cause. - The following are hereby repealed:
27 
a) Section 282 of Republic Act No. 8424, otherwise known as the "Tax
28 
Reform Act of1997";
29 
b) Section 1512 of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as the "Customs
30 
Modernization and Tariff Act" and,
31 
c) Republic Act No. 2338, as amended entitled ">4^7 Act to Provide for Reward
32 
to Informers of Vioiations ofinternai Revenue and Customs Laws".


1 
All laws, decrees, executive order, issuances and rules and regulations or
2 
parts thereof that are contrary to and inconsistent with and provisions of this Act are
3 
hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.
4 
Sec. 12. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
5 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,