OSS-Center workers question COA audit

Workers of the One Stop Shop Interagency Tax Credit and Duty Drawback Center, an agency of the Department of Finance, questioned the results of the “special audit” undertaken by the Commission on Audit on the agency’s operations since 2015.

Lawyer Marlon Mercado said the COA special audit team’s allegation that P8.85 billion of tax credits were illegally issued was based on altering the actual provisions of Article 39 (j) of Executive Order 226, or the Omnibus Investment Code, of which the OSS-Center is one the state agencies tasked to implement it, and tampering contents of an OSS-Center executive committee resolution passed on Oct. 18 , 2020.

The twin moves appeared to fit the desired conclusion of the audit team that the subject TCCs were all issued without any legal basis at all, said Mercado, who was representing the workers in their legal battle.

The OSS-Center asked the Supreme Court for certiorari and writ of prohibition after the office received since 2018 from COA on different intervals 11 batches of 578 notices of disallowances involving eight firms and total amount of P2.216 billion.