Two TIN Numbers

I read from the COL Financial website the other night that a Tax Identification Number (TIN) is required to apply for a new account with them so I scoured my important documents and looked for my TIN. Thing is, I discovered I have two and I was unsure which one is correct.

The first TIN is in the "Certificate of Creditable Tax Withheld" I requested from the government-owned institution I used to work for in 2002 to 2006. While the other one was issued when I was working as a Website Administrator for a Hong Kong-based company back in 2009. Confusing! And since this task is included in my list of micro-goals, I decided to tackle this duplicate TIN issue once and for all.

Option 1: Go to the nearest BIR Revenue District Office (RDO) to verify your TIN Number.

Option 2: Call BIR Contact Center at (02) 981-888

I chose to call the hotline and within a few rings, a representative attended to my inquiries. I explained about my duplicate TIN issue and asked which one should I use. After verifying my identity by asking for my two TINs, full name, birth date and address, she checked my records in the system and told me to stop using the first TIN because it doesn't belong to me. I was like, what? Where did my 3% withholding tax go? You mean the money deducted from my salary from 2002 to 2006 amounting to 10,300+ pesos was not recorded in my name? Kind of annoying to discover that I have no contributions recorded despite the fact that the company deducted 3% from my salary every pay day. :/

It was a long time ago so I'm letting this pass. I thanked the representative for responding to my inquiries and said goodbye. I even felt so lucky I didn't have to wait too long to get my questions answered. Now I know which TIN I should use, I just need to request for a TIN ID card. I am due to give birth 2-3 weeks from now so I'm holding off until maybe September or October.

In the end, I'm glad I took the first step today to get my documents organized one by one. Sana sipagin pa ako sa mga susunod na araw. :)