BIR Ruling No. 039-83

March 17, 1983 BIR RULING NO. 039-83 Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated November 18, 1982 requesting confirmation of your opinion that the bottling and sale of spring drinking water by your client, Anthony's Distillates, Inc. are not subject to sale tax. You have represented that your client bottles spring water taken from Barrio Banago, Nagcarlan, Laguna under the following procedures: "(a) Water is pumped from the natural spring; "(b) The water then passes through five (5) filters in this order: bag filter, cotton filter, activated charcoal filter, and nylon/polypropylene filter; "(c) The filtered water is the sterilized and bottled in sterilized bottles." that no chemicals of any kind are added to the spring water, that the exterior texture, form, inner substance and shape of the spring water are not in anyway altered or changed; that the water in the bottle is exactly the same as the water in the spring, only it is purer because of the filtering and sterilization which are done by its exposure to ultra violet light which kills the bacteria in the water; and that there is no heating or boiling of the water; in short, the spring water remains spring water in its original state. In reply, please be informed that under the foregoing facts, the filtering and sterilization did not transform the spring water into a new and different article having a distinctive name, character and use; hence the spring water bottled and sold by your client is not a manufactured product. Consequently, your client is not a manufacturer subject to sales tax. However, it is subject to income tax. Very truly yours, (SGD.) RUBEN B. ANCHETA Acting Commissioner Bureau of Internal Revenue