BIR Ruling

January 16, 1975 Professor Damiana Eugenio Chairman, Dept. of English University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City M a d a m : This refers to your letter dated October 21, 1974 requesting reconsideration of the ruling of this Office dated September 4, 1974 denying your request for exemption from the payment of compensating tax on the literary journals being donated to your library by a retired American professor, Dr. Wayland D. Hand. cdi In reply thereto, I regret to inform you that after a careful study of your request for reconsideration, this Office finds no legal basis to grant the same. Section 190 of the Tax Code specifically enumerates the articles exempt from compensating tax. The literary journals in question are not among those falling within the enumeration. Moreover, the fact that this is, in effect, an importation by the University of the Philippines, which is a government instrumentality, will not exempt the same from the payment of the compensating tax. Pursuant to Section 1205 of Republic Act No. 1937 (Tariff and Customs Code), as amended by Presidential Decree No. 34, all importations by the government for its own use or that of its subordinate branches or instrumentalities or corporations, agencies or instrumentalities owned or controlled by the government are now subject to the duties, taxes, fees and other charges provided for in said Code. Accordingly, and as there is no other law upon which exemption can be granted, this Office believes that said imported articles are subject to compensating tax. Very truly yours, (SGD.) MISAEL P. VERA Commissioner of Internal Revenue TAN-1601-593-5