Meaning of "Non-resident Citizen", Clarified

April 25, 1974 BIR RULING NO. 009-74 A non-resident citizen's physical presence abroad for less than one taxable year clarified under his employment contract to render services for an uninterrupted period of one taxable year . Reference is made to your letter dated February 28, 1974 requesting a ruling as regards your status as an income tax filer under the following facts: 'The C.F. Sharp Co. Inc. with whom I signed an employment contract on November 20, 1972 to board the "San Juan Prospector" of Marcona Carriers Ltd. of San Francisco, California, U.S.A. for one year as second engineer had given me their Withholding Tax Statement showing P36,447.05 as total wages, with P1,123.13 as tax withheld. "I signed this contract with C.F. Sharp & CO. on November 20, 1972, although I departed from the Philippines on January 8, 1973 because I had to wait for the boat. In the meantime, the shipping company "Marcona Carriers" paid me a standby pay of $180 a month starting November 20, 1972, up to the time I boarded the ship. My work lasted until January 31, 1974, even though I arrived in the Philippines on December 13, 1973. "With all the facts stated above, would I not qualify as a non-resident citizen and file my income under BIR Form 17.OIC? I am enclosing all the necessary papers to prove my claim that I was employed by "Marcona Carriers" until 1974". cdta In reply, I have the honor to inform you that pursuant to Section 21 of the Tax Code as amended by Presidential Decree Nos. 69 and 323, a non-resident citizen is "one who establishes to the satisfaction of the Commissioner the fact of his physical presence abroad for an uninterrupted period which includes an entire taxable year". Under the foregoing facts, you are nevertheless considered a non-resident citizen, since your employment contract to render services abroad covers an uninterrupted period which includes an entire taxable year. The fact that you were physically present abroad for a period which is less than a taxable year is of no moment since the same is of your employer's making and not of your own.