American Era

The country was administered by American military governors during

the early American dictatorship, which lasted from 1898 until 1901. Under
William H. Taft, the rst civil government was founded in 1902.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was established only after the second
civil governor Luke E. Wright signed Reorganization Act No. 1189 on July
2, 1904.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was established on August 1, 1904,

under the direction of Secretary of Finance Henry Ide with John S. Hord
as the rst Collector (Commisioner).

On January 1, 1913, during Collector Holting’s tenure, BIR underwent its

rst restructuring, with the establishment of eight divisions: 1)
Accounting, 2) Cash, 3) Clerical, 4) Inspection, 5) Law, 6) Real Estate, 7)
License, and Records. Filipino collectors were hired as part of then-US
President McKinley’s Filipinization policy. Wenceslao Trinidad
(1918-1922), Juan Posadas, Jr. (1922-1934), and Alfredo Yatao (1934-1938)
were the rst three BIR collectors.

The real estate, licensing, and cash divisions were abolished in May 1921
through Act No. 299, and their powers were transferred to the City of
Manila. The BIR was left with ve departments as a result of this transfer:
1) Administrative, 2) Law, 3) Accounting, 4) Income Tax, and 5)
Inspection.

Examiner’s Division formerly known as the Income Tax Examiner’s

Section that combined with the Income Tax and Secret Service
Sections, was in charge of detection and surveillance activities until
January 1, 1951, when it was eliminated.

From 1921 through 1941, Introduction of the Miscellaneous Tax Division

in 1939.
The Secretary of Finance issued Regulation No. 95 in 1937.