BIR Ruling

July 16, 1970 1st Indorsement Returned to the Revenue Operations Head (Collection) his within memorandum dated February 11, 1970 requesting a ruling whether the Bureau of Internal Revenue can legally hold or prevent any person from boarding an airplane or ship if his tax clearance is found to be fake or secured from an illegal source outside of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. In this connection, he is advised that under Section 343 of the Tax Code, no person, except those specifically enumerated therein, can leave the Philippines without a certificate of tax clearance issued by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or his authorized representative. Under Section 344 of the same Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 6110, airline or shipping companies shall not carry any passenger from a place or port in the Philippines to a foreign place or port, unless the tax clearance certificate prescribed in Section 343 is duly presented. Such being the case, if the tax clearance certificate presented is fake or secured from an illegal source, the same is not the certificate prescribed in Section 343, hence, such presentation is tantamount to not presenting any tax clearance certificate at all. It may be stated, however, that the airline or shipping company concerned to which the fake or forged certificate is presented cannot possibly ascertain the genuineness of the certificate at the time of its presentation. Forgery is ascertained after the sale of the ticket and by revenue personnel at the point of embarkation. Such being the case, the airline or shipping company may still allow the passenger to board a plane or ship, provided that the passenger with fake certificate states under oath the person or entity from whom he received the certificate. With the identity of the source of the fake certificate already established, it will not be difficult to go after those responsible for the issuance thereof. (SGD.) MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue