Use of Letterheads in Lieu of Official Receipts

August 31, 1989 BIR RULING NO. 190-89 238; 248 (a) (2) 249 000-00 190-89 Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated July 10, 1989 stating that you are assuming the responsibility of paying the 2% common carrier's tax in the amount of P420,000.00 incurred by various truckers which effected the transshipment of imported fertilizer from Manila to your plant at Iligan, Mindanao, costing P21,000,000.00 for refund under the Government Fertilizer Subsidy Program sometime in 1980-1982; that the Commission on Audit (COA) stated that your transport cost is within the Fertilizer Subsidy Program; and that you intend to pay your assumed common carrier's tax liability of P420,000.00 from your alleged refundable transshipment cost of P21,000,000.00. cdtech Based on the foregoing representation, you now request from this Office the following, viz: 1. That you be allowed to use your letterheads in lieu of official receipts to support your alleged payments to certain truckers who failed to issue the official receipts evidencing the aforementioned cost of transshipment of imported fertilizer from Manila to your plant at Iligan, Mindanao for purposes of your claim for its refund under the Government Fertilizer Subsidy Program; and 2. That the penalties incident to the common carrier's tax liabilities of certain truckers, which liabilities you are now offering to pay from your said refund, if and when approved, be condoned. In reply, please be informed that under Section 238 of the Tax Code, as amended, the persons required to issue receipts or sales or commercial invoices are those who sell or transfer merchandise or render services valued at P25.00 or more and not the person or persons to whom the goods are sold or the services rendered. Hence, the persons who should issue the receipts to evidence your payment of the total amount of P21,000,000.00 as cost of transshipment are the various truckers who transported your fertilizer from Manila to Iligan. However, since those various truckers can no longer be found, this Office will not interpose any objection if you use your letterheads to evidence your aforementioned transshipment cost for purposes of claiming refund under the Government Fertilizer Subsidy Program. It is up to the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) whether to accept or not your letterhead in lieu of the official receipts supposed to have been issued by the various truckers, to support your request for refund. But for income tax purposes, you can not use your letterheads as evidence of your claimed deductible business expense. Moreover, this Office can not condone the penalties incident to the common carrier's tax liabilities of certain truckers which you are now assuming, for lack of legal basis. Pursuant to then Section 193 of the Tax Code, in case of late payment of the percentage tax, a surcharge of 25% and an interest of 20% per annum shall be imposed. The imposition of surcharge and interest in case of the late payment of tax is mandatory and cannot be waived. Accordingly, since you will assume the payment of the common carrier's tax liabilities of those various truckers only now when they were due and payable in 1980-1982, the surcharge and interest shall be imposed and collected against you. cdt Very truly yours, (SGD.) JOSE U. ONG Commissioner