BIR Ruling No. 178-84

November 16, 1984 BIR RULING NO. 178-84 199 (a)-000-00-178-84 Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated November 12, 1984 stating that under Letter of Instruction (LOI) No. 1347 promulgated on July 22, 1983, the United Coconut Oil Mills, Inc. (Unicom) is constituted as the sole importer of substitute vegetable oils which shall be sold to refiners and manufacturers of consumer products such as cooking oil and shortening; that the importation of such substitute vegetable oils by the Unicom shall be exempt from all applicable taxes and duties until further orders by the President of the Philippines; that as authorized by LOI No. 1347 and in accordance with implementing Resolution No. 29 of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank (CB), Unicom entered into purchase contracts with Inter-Trade (Pte.) Limited of Singapore, to import palm oil olein from Malaysia, copies of which were submitted to and approved by the CB, and scheduled for shipments as follows: Date of Date of Approval Delivery Contract No. Contract by CB Qty. Period 84/1002 Oct. 2/84 Oct. 10/84 5,000 MT Oct. 1-15/ Nov. 1-15/84 84/1008 Oct. 8/84 3,000 MT Nov. 15-30/84 In connection thereto, you request clarification on the following queries: "1. Is Unicom's exemption under LOI 1347 withdrawn by virtue of P.D. 1955? "2. How does P.D. 1955 apply for the above contracts of importation?" In reply, please be informed that P.D. No. 1955 which took effect on October 15, 1984 withdraws all exemptions from, or any preferential treatment in the payment of duties, taxes, fees, imposts and other charges heretofore granted to private business enterprises and/or persons engaged in any economic activity. All acts and transactions, therefore, done/entered into, prior to October 15, 1984 are not within the coverage of P.D. No. 1955 inasmuch as the same are covered by the mantle of exemption extended to Unicom under Letter of Instruction No. 1347. P.D. No. 1955 is prospectively applicable only to cases starting from October 15, 1984 and thereafter. In view thereof, the aforementioned importations or shipments of palm oil olein are exempt from internal revenue taxes, as provided for by Section 2 of LOI No. 1347. Very truly yours, (SGD.) RUBEN B. ANCHETA Acting Commissioner