BIR Ruling

July 17, 1969 Philippine National Bank Quezon City Branch Quezon City Attention: Mr . A . H . Aragon 1st Asst . Manager and Officer-in-Charge Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated February 20, 1969, requesting for a ruling on whether or not some of your depositors who are exempt from the payment of the documentary stamp tax are also exempt from payment of the science stamp tax. In reply, I have the honor to inform you that documents which are by law exempt from documentary stamp taxes are also exempt from science stamp taxes because the latter tax is predicated on the liability to the former tax. In other words, science tax is a documentary stamp tax. Actually, it partakes of the nature of increase in the documentary stamp tax, only that the increase is earmarked for the Special Science Fund. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this Office as it hereby holds that those exempt from the payment of documentary stamp tax are necessarily exempt from the payment of the science stamp tax. prcd Very truly yours, (SGD.) MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue