TIN verification/validation made easy (or not)
Last 27 January, the BIR released Revenue Memorandum Circular 13-2021, which highlighted the availability of the BIR Mobile TIN Verifier App
Published in Daily Tribune on February 5, 2021
by: Juan Romulo R. Taleon
Gone are the days when people would flock to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and inquire about their TIN (tax identification number) or have their TIN validated…or are they?
Last 27 January, the BIR released Revenue Memorandum Circular 13-2021, which highlighted the availability of the BIR Mobile TIN Verifier App. This not only allows individuals to validate their TIN at their fingertips but also to inquire in case someone forgets their TIN.
The App is a service channel for taxpayers to send online TIN Validation requests and TIN inquiries using their mobile phones with real-time response from the concerned BIR Office.
The development of this mobile application is in line with the Bureau’s effort to migrate its processes to the digital platform, giving taxpayers a convenient alternative to availing the TIN validation service. It certainly beats having to physically queue at the BIR district office for the purpose. Note, however, the words “real-time response,” which I will illustrate later.
I installed the App on my phone just to see how it works. Installation is easy. Simply look for the BIR Mobile TIN Verifier App in Google Play and download, hit install and you’re done. As of this writing, the BIR Mobile TIN Verifier is not yet available in the Apple App Store. This may be a technical glitch or the App itself is pending approval for release in App Store.
Once you open the App, a Mobile App Disclaimer pops up with a Privacy Notice. This tells you that the App collects certain personal information, what personal information it collects, the limits on use and disclosure of your personal information, how such personal information is being secured, the web browser cookies of the website, links to other websites, your rights as a Data Subject and finally elicits your feedback to the privacy notice. After reading through the mobile app disclaimer, you’ll be required to click on the “I have read and understood the Privacy Policy” which will allow you to proceed to the application proper.
Clicking the proceed button will direct you to the home screen of the App, which prominently displays the BIR logo. Below it is a large TIN verifier button. Click the TIN verifier button and the “fun” begins.
The “fun” starts with another notice, this time advising that the App initially covers Individual Taxpayers only and is available only on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Once you open the App, a Mobile App Disclaimer pops up with a Privacy Notice.
The App then permits you to tell it what you want to do, i.e., TIN Validation or TIN Inquiry. Clicking TIN inquiry will take you to a page that asks for your name, birth date, address, civil status and most importantly, a selfie with a valid Government ID. The same details are required for TIN Validation requests plus your TIN. After all, the App won’t be able to validate your TIN if you don’t give it, right?
Now comes the waiting part but the supposedly “real-time” response of the BIR is nowhere near my experience.
I finished keying in all the required information at 10 a.m. and then waited and waited and waited. After two hours, I finally got the response, I got a message informing me of my TIN, giving me an option to visit their website and providing contact numbers for any of my concern. Under the message is a big and notable mark of “TIN VERIFIED.”
Although my TIN is verified, presenting this in a printable format for transactions that need TIN Verification is another thing. For now, a person with a verified TIN can only screenshot the said verification although this is subject to the necessary limitation in his or her mobile phone.
The App may be innovative but its primary purpose of convenience to the taxpayer is still nowhere there. I hope the BIR is able to tweak the App so that it may be able to provide the convenience of service and the kind of real time response that the taxpayers RIGHTFULLY DESERVE.
