BIR launches DARES agenda, prioritizes audit reform

The Bureau of Internal Revenue on Friday launched BIR D.A.R.E.S., its five-point priority reform and legacy agenda, during a Directors’ Conference attended by regional directors from Luzon, covering Regions I to IX-B, and officials of the Large Taxpayers Service.

The conference, the first for 2026, marked the initial round of cascading the Bureau’s new policy direction to the field, with a second round for the Visayas and Mindanao clusters scheduled on Jan. 23.

DARES stands for Digital and Data Transformation, Audit Reform and Accountability, Revenue Collection and Base Protection, Employee Empowerment and Welfare Promotion, Service Excellence, and Stakeholder Engagement.

BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza said BIR DARES aligns the Bureau’s direction with the President’s directive that the agency remains firmly focused on revenue collection for nation-building, while ensuring reforms improve how this mandate is carried out.

“BIR DARES reflects what we are already grappling with on the ground,” Mendoza said. “These are not abstract priorities. These are the real challenges we face, and these are the reforms we are choosing to confront.”

The launch coincided with Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go outlining the government’s big, bold reforms during the Economic Managers Forum in Taguig City, underscoring the administration’s push to “improve the ease of doing business, reduce the cost of doing business, or build the infrastructure needed for businesses to thrive.”

Mendoza emphasized that audit reform is the most urgent priority under BIR DARES, noting that public trust in tax administration is shaped by how audits are conducted and how tax assessments are made.

He recalled that the issuance of Letters of Authority was suspended in late November following concerns raised by the private sector over audit conduct, a move he described as a deliberate decision to allow the Bureau to review its audit framework and identify gaps and vulnerabilities.

Following the suspension, the BIR constituted the Technical Working Group Review Committee on Assessment Integrity and Audit Reform, or TWGRC-AIAR, tasked with reviewing audit processes, systems and controls and recommending reforms to strengthen fairness, accountability and defensibility.

Mendoza said the technical working group is now in the final stages of refining the policy issuances and reform measures that will govern the lifting of the suspension and the resumption of audits.

“These reforms are being carefully designed to ensure that when audits resume, they do so under clearer rules, stronger safeguards, and better oversight,” he said.

He added that the shift toward a digitized, risk-based and data-driven audit system—consistent with the broader reform agenda of the Department of Finance—will help minimize discretion, strengthen accountability and improve monitoring across the Bureau.

Mendoza introduced to regional directors three reforms expected to be immediately felt by taxpayers when audits resume, including the Letters of Authority verifier through the BIR website’s Chatbot REVIE, the consolidated one LOA per taxpayer per year, and the abolition of units and task forces previously authorized to conduct audits.

He also reminded officials of the planned revalida, or “audit the auditors,” system, which the Bureau will implement to strengthen checks and balances and tighten accountability among revenue officers.

Beyond audit reforms, Mendoza reiterated that digitalization initiatives for tax services, audits and revenue monitoring to be rolled out this year will support compliance and revenue collection, which remains the Bureau’s core mandate.

He also highlighted enforcement priorities involving high-risk products such as vape, tobacco and fuel, sectors long identified by the government as vulnerable to tax leakage.

Mendoza stressed that employee empowerment and welfare are critical to strengthening professionalism and delivering service excellence across the Bureau.

The Directors’ Conference, he said, is a key step in ensuring that regional offices and the Large Taxpayers Service are fully aligned with the reform direction ahead of upcoming policy issuances.

“This is about preparing the organization for what comes next,” Mendoza said. “The work being done now will define how we carry out our mandate moving forward.”