Taxability of Makati City on Interest Income from Deposit Accounts and Yield and Other Monetary Benefits

September 13, 2004 BIR RULING NO. 013-04 27 (D) (1) 32 (B) (7) (b) 000-00 Synex, Inc. 2/F PCCI Corporate Centre 118 L.P. Leviste Street Salcedo Village, Makati City Attention: Mr. Rolando A. Castro President Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated October 12, 2001 requesting confirmation of your opinion that the City of Makati, ("City") is not subject to the provisions of Chapter IV Tax on Corporations of the Tax Code of 1997, including Section 27(D)(1) * thereof on interest from deposits and yield or any other monetary benefit from deposit substitutes and from trust funds and similar arrangements and royalties. I. The Facts Presented The City is a political subdivision of the Republic of the Philippines. As a local government unit, it serves as an instrumentality of the State in carrying out the functions of government. As part of its essential government functions, the City collects taxes, fees and other charges. It maintains deposit accounts with various banks as well as investments in government securities, commercial papers and the like. The depository banks and other financial institutions withhold the final tax of 20% on the interest earned from such deposits and investments pursuant to Section 27(D)(1) and remit the same to this Office. EDISaA II. Statement of Issue Are the interest derived from City's bank deposits and yields from investments in Government securities, commercial papers and other similar arrangements subject to income tax, specifically, the final tax on passive incomes under Section 27(D)(1)? III. Provisions of the Tax Code of 1997 The following are the pertinent provisions of the Tax Code of 1997 under Title II on Tax on Income. A. Sec. 27. Rates of income tax on domestic corporations . xxx xxx xxx "(C) Government-owned or -controlled corporations, agencies or instrumentalities . The provisions of existing special or general laws to the contrary notwithstanding, all corporations, agencies, or instrumentalities owned or controlled by the Government, except the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Social Security System (SSS), the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), shall pay such rate of tax upon their taxable income as are imposed by this Section upon corporations or associations engaged in a similar business, industry, or activity." "(D) Rates of taxes on certain passive incomes . (1) Interest from Deposits and Yield or any other Monetary Benefit from Deposit Substitutes and from Trust Funds and Similar Arrangements, and Royalties . A final tax at the rate of twenty percent (20%) is hereby imposed upon the amount of interest on currency bank deposit and yield or any other monetary benefit from deposit substitutes and from trust funds and similar arrangements received by domestic corporations, and royalties, derived from sources within the Philippines; Provided, however , That interest income derived by a domestic corporation from a depository bank under the expanded foreign currency deposit system shall be subject to a final tax at the rate of seven and one half percent (7 1/2%) of such interest income." (emphasis supplied.) xxx xxx xxx B. Sec. 32. Gross Income . xxx xxx xxx "(B) Exclusions from gross income . The following items shall not be included in gross income and shall be exempt from taxation under this Title: xxx xxx xxx "(7) Miscellaneous Items. xxx xxx xxx (b) Income Derived by the Government or its Political Subdivisions . Income derived from any public utility or from the exercise of essential governmental function accruing to the Government of the Philippines or to any political subdivision thereof. IV. Argument It is your proposition that the interest earned by the City from its bank deposits and other investments is not subject to income tax, including the final tax on passive incomes. Your position is based on the following reasons: 1. It is an established principle of taxation that agencies and instrumentalities of the government are exempt from taxation. i. It is folly for the government to tax itself; otherwise, a vicious cycle will be created whereby it should produce more taxes to pay its own tax liability. ii. To tax the government would create the ridiculous situation of taking money from one of its pockets and placing it in the other pocket [E.P. Castaeda, Analyses and Jurisprudence on the NIRC, (1985)]. iii. Since local government units are representatives of the State, created by the State to exercise a limited portion of its powers of government, its revenues, like those of the State itself, are also not taxable. 2. Section 32(B)(7)(b) excludes from gross income and exempts from taxation the income derived from the exercise of any essential government function accruing to the Government of the Philippines or to any of the political subdivision thereof. i. It is both a duty and essential function of the local government unit to preserve its own funds. In furtherance of this duty and function, the City must of necessity maintain deposit and investments in government securities, commercial papers and the like with various banks and other financial institutions where the City's funds derived from its collection of taxes, fees and other charges are deposited and invested. ii. Since the act of depositing and investing these funds to preserve the same is an act that is so intimately connected with the essential functions of the government, it should follow that the income derived therefrom is also not subject to tax. V. Discussion In the previous rulings of this Office, it was established that provincial, city and municipal governments are liable for income tax on the interest on their bank deposits and yields from deposit substitutes, trust funds and similar arrangements because the tax exemption privileges, including preferential tax treatment of all government units, i.e. , the National Government, its agencies and political subdivisions as well as government-owned or controlled corporations, were withdrawn by Presidential Decree No. 1931 (1984) and Executive Order No. 93 (1987) (BIR Ruling Nos. 069-84, 055-91 and 383-91). There is no reason to depart from these rulings. CDHacE Government-owned or -controlled corporations, agencies or instrumentalities of the government are no longer exempt from taxation and shall be liable to pay such rate of tax upon their taxable income as are imposed upon corporations or associations engaged in similar business, industry or activity (Sec. 27(C)). Based on an express provision of law, a local government unit, as an instrumentality of the Government, is not exempt from income taxation. Moreover, the City's income from its depository accounts and investments in securities, commercial papers and similar arrangements is not exempt from income tax on the ground that it would be tantamount to the government taxing itself, which would create the "ridiculous situation of taking money from one of its pockets and placing it in the other pocket." First, the taxing authority involved in the collection of income tax is the National Government. The tax due under the Tax Code of 1997 is payable to the National Government through this Office and not to the City. Second, the City is allotted only a share in the national internal revenue taxes (Local Government Code of 1991, Secs. 284 and 285). The final tax on income due on interest income of the City does not revert automatically to the City. Thus, the situation adverted to does not obtain here. Section 32 (B) (7) (b), however, excludes from the gross income and exempts from income tax, including the final tax under Section 27 (D) (1), the income derived from the discharge of any essential governmental functions accruing to the Government of the Philippines or to any of its political subdivisions. It is necessary then to determine whether the City, in maintaining depository accounts and investing in government securities, commercial papers and other similar arrangements from which it derives interest income, performs an essential government function . CEIHcT There is no hard and fast rule for purposes of determining the true nature of an undertaking or function of a municipal corporation. The surrounding circumstances of a particular case are to be considered and would be decisive. "The basic element, however beneficial to the public the undertaking may be, is that it is governmental in essence, otherwise the function becomes private or proprietary in character" ( Torio vs. Fontanilla , 85 SCRA 602 (1978)). It has been established though that an instrumentality of the government which acts for the purpose of accomplishing government policies and objectives and extending essential services to the people performs governmental and not proprietary functions ( Peoples' Homesite and Housing Corporation vs. Court of Industrial Relations , 150 SCRA 296, 310 (1987)). In Angat River Irrigation System, et al. vs. Angat River Workers' Union, et al. , 102 Phil. 789, 796797 (1957), the Supreme Court made a distinction between acts in the performance of a government function and those in the performance of a corporate or proprietary function and held: "As ordinarily constituted, municipal corporations (and this may be said of the National Government) have dual character, the one governmental, legislative, or public; the other, proprietary or private. In their public capacity, a responsibility exists in the performance of acts for the public benefit, and in this respect they are merely a part of the machinery of government of the sovereignty creating them, and the authority of the state is supreme. But in their PROPRIETARY or private character their powers are supposed to be conferred not from considerations of state, but for the private advantage of the particular corporation as a distinct legal personality (Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 3rd revision, vol. II, p. 2270). In its governmental or public character, the corporation is made by the state one of its instruments, or the local depository of certain limited and prescribed political powers, to be exercised for the public good in behalf of the state rather than for itself. But in its proprietary or private character, the theory is that the powers were supposed not to be conferred primarily or chiefly from considerations connected with the government of the state at large, but for the private advantage of the compact community which is incorporated as a distinct legal personality or corporate individual; and as to such powers, and to property acquired and contracts made thereunder, the corporation is frequently regarded as having the rights and obligations of a private rather than those of a public corporation ( Trenton vs. New Jersey , 262 US 182, 67 L Ed. 937, 29 ALR 1471). The governmental functions of a municipal corporation are those conferred or imposed upon it as a local agency, to be exercised not only in the interest of its inhabitants, but also in the advancement of the public good and welfare as affecting the public generally (37 Am. Jur. 727). The distinction between acts in the performance of a governmental function and those in the performance of a corporate or proprietary function is that in the case of the former, the municipal corporation is executing a legislative mandate with respect to a public duty generally, while in the other, it is exercising its private rights as a corporate body ( Loeb vs. Jacksonville , 101 Fla. 429, 69 ALR 459). A. Depository Account Sections 310 and 311 of the Local Government Code of 1991 require the local government units to maintain depository accounts for their funds. The provisions state as follows: "Sec. 310. Separation of Books and Depository Accounts . Local accountants and treasurers shall maintain separate books and depository accounts, respectively, for each fund in their custody or administration, under such rules and regulations as the Commission on Audit may prescribe. Sec. 311. Depository Accounts . Local treasurers shall maintain, depository accounts in the name of their respective local government units with banks, preferably government-owned, located in or nearest to their respective areas of jurisdiction. Earnings of each depository account shall accrue exclusively thereto." The obligation of the City to maintain depository accounts for its funds may not, however, be construed as part of its essential governmental functions since this is not exercised by the City in "administering the powers of the state and promoting the public welfare" nor is it included among the "legislative, judicial, public or political" powers of the City. It is in the nature of a function "for the special benefit and advantage of the City" and, hence, proprietary in character ( City of Manila vs. Intermediate Appellate Court , 179 SCRA 428, 434-435 (1989)). Moreover, in opening and maintaining these depository accounts, the City will enter into contracts with the banks which involves the exercise of its proprietary functions ( Id. , at p. 434). B. Investments The City engages primarily in an economic activity with a view to obtaining profit when it maintains investments. The City acts in its proprietary or private character since no governmental or public policy of the state is involved ( Torio vs. Fontanilla , supra at pp. 608609). As a corporation, the City enjoys full autonomy in the exercise of its economic enterprises, subject to the limitations provided in the Local Government Code of 1991 and other applicable laws (Local Government Code, Sec. 22 (d)). When the City acts in its proprietary character, it is regarded as having the rights and obligations of a private corporation ( Angat River Irrigation System, et al. vs. Angat River Workers Union, supra , at p. 796). Its income realized from its investment activities or received by it in the exercise of its proprietary powers is subject to income tax in the same manner as other private corporations similarly situated ( Sison vs. Ancheta , 130 SCRA 654, 664 (1984)). VI. Conclusion The City is subject to the 20% final tax on its interest income derived from its deposit accounts and yield and other monetary benefit from its investments in government securities, commercial papers and similar arrangements under Section 27(D)(1). Very truly yours, (SGD.) GUILLERMO L. PARAYNO, JR. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Footnotes * Sections cited shall refer to the Tax Code of 1997, unless otherwise indicated.