BIR Ruling [DA-443-05]

October 26, 2005 BIR RULING [DA-443-05] Bank of the Philippine Islands BPI Building, Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas Makati City Attention: Atty. Nicasio C. Cabaneiro Vice President Gentlemen : This refers to your application for a Certificate of Residency or Domicile of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) dated September 28, 2005. It is represented that BPI is a domestic commercial bank with an expanded banking license and duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 4, 1993; that this Certificate of Domicile shall be used by BPI for purposes of claiming an exemption from Indonesian tax pursuant to Article 13 of the RP-Indonesia Tax Treaty on the gains (if any) to be derived from the sale of its shares of stock in PT Asuransi Jiwa Eka Life (Eka Life), a corporation organized and existing under Indonesian laws; that the sale of the Eka Life shares by BPI is proposed to be completed within the taxable years 2005-2006; and that in support of your request, you have submitted the following documents: 1. SEC Certificate of Registration and Articles of Incorporation & By-Laws; 2. BIR Certificate of Registration; 3. Annual Income Tax Return for CY 2004; and 4. Quarterly Income Tax Return for the 1st and 2nd Quarters CY 2005. In reply thereto, please be informed that the term "national" means: i) any individual possessing the nationality or a Contracting State; ii) a juridical person created or organized under the laws of a Contracting State and all organizations without juridical personality treated for the purposes of tax of that Contracting State as juridical persons created or organized under the laws of that Contracting State. (Art. 3(1)(g), RP-Indonesia Tax Treaty) Corollarily, for the purposes of this Agreement, the term "resident of a Contracting State" means any person who, under the laws of that Contracting State, is treated as a resident for tax purposes in the Contracting State. (Art. 4, RP-Indonesia Tax Treaty) Based on the above representations and on the documents submitted, it is clear that BPI is organized and existing under the laws of the Philippines and confirms that BPI is a domicile and resident of the Philippines. IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, this Office hereby CONFIRMS that BPI is a domicile and resident of the Philippines for tax purposes. Very truly yours, (SGD.) JAMES H. ROLDAN Assistant Commissioner Legal Service