Requesting Authority to Pay Directly to BIR the Documentary Stamp Tax due on Insurance Premiums

October 10, 1986 BIR RULING NO. 209-86 249 073-86 209-86 Gentlemen : This refers to your letter dated January 30, 1986 requesting authority to pay directly to the BIR the documentary stamp tax due on insurance premiums written for a given month instead of affixing the same by means of a franking machine. It is represented that you have been affixing the required documentary stamps to the pertinent documents by means of a franking machine which is periodically loaded at the BIR Offices, that the franking machine method of affixing documentary stamps is time consuming and subject to errors; and that you want to eliminate this affixing process to complement the company's objective of reducing costs through work simplification. In reply, please be informed that pursuant to Revenue Regulations No. 3-75 amending Section 203 of Revenue Regulations No. 26 (Documentary Stamp Tax Regulations) and implementing Section 213 (formerly Section 249) of the Tax Code, pertinent portion of which is quoted hereunder as follows: ". . . In meritorious cases . . . the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, may, in his discretion, authorize . . . that with respect to insurance policies, the documentary stamps shall be adhered to the register copy or premium register, . . ." Your request is hereby granted subject to the following conditions: 1. that you should keep a Documentary Stamp Tax Register where all monthly purchases of documentary stamps made in advance are record and all serial numbers of policies issued during the day together with the amount of documentary stamp taxes due thereon are indicated; 2. that all policies issued should bear the following notation: "Documentary Stamp Tax paid under RTR No. __________ and CR No. ___________ dated ______________ in the amount of P ____________: Refer to Doc. stamp Register Page No. ________." 3. that the Documentary Stamp Tax Register should be in bound form and registered first with this Office in looseleaf blank sheets or plain paper but serially numbered; and 4. that to avoid the occurrence of a situation where the documentary stamp tax paid is less than the tax due for the month, you should put up a reserve fund to answer for any deficiency at the end of the month, the same to be replenished every now and then or as soon as the necessity arises. cdtech Very truly yours, (SGD.) BIENVENIDO A. TAN, JR. Commissioner of Internal Revenue