BIR Ruling

July 30, 1969 The President BIR Savings & Loan Association, Inc. Finance Building Manila S i r : In answer to your request for opinion as to whether or not the specimen promissory note attached to your note dated July 29, 1969 is subject to documentary stamp tax, I have the honor to inform you as follows: cdll Under Section 50 of the Revised Documentary Stamp Tax Regulations No. 26, a promissory note (negotiable) is defined as an unconditional promise in writing made by one person to another signed by the maker engaging to pay on demand or at a fixed determinable future time, a sum certain in money to such other person or to order or to bearer, free from restrictions as to registration or transfer and usually without coupons. The specimen promissory note submitted is a promise in writing made by a borrower to pay his debt to the lender or is a mere evidence of acknowledgment of an indebtedness. In view of the foregoing, it is our opinion that the specimen promissory note is not a negotiable promissory note as defined above, hence, is not subject to the documentary stamp tax imposed by Section 217 of the Tax Code. LexLib Very truly yours, (SGD.) MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue