BIR Ruling No. 222-61

June 5, 1961 BIR RULING NO. 222-61 The Municipal Council Municipal District of Lamut Mountain Province Gentlemen : Your resolution seeking to require forest concessionaires to pay in your district the forest charges on the products cut by them within the territorial jurisdiction of your district was referred to this office for action. LexLib Under existing regulations, forest concessionaires are required to secure the invoices for their products from the deputy provincial treasurer of the municipality where the products are cut. They should also pay the forest charges to the said official before removal of the products. However, where this requirement would cause great inconvenience or hardship, forest concessionaires may secure and prepare the said invoices and pay the forest charges in a municipality other than the one where forest products are cut upon the written permission of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. They may also ship, under bond, their forest products and pay the charges at destination provided the auxiliary invoices have been duly accomplished before shipment, (Secs. 11 and 12, Rev. Regs. No. 82). We understand that your reason for passing the above-mentioned resolution is to insure that your District will not be deprived of its share of forest charges. In this connection, please be advised that forest charges accrue to the National Treasury and 2% thereof is allotted to municipalities to be divided equally between their general and permanent improvement funds. (Sec. 362, Tax Code; C.A. 586 as amended by R.A. No. 781). Said allotment goes to the municipalities regardless of the place where said charges are collected so that even if a municipality has no collection of forest charges it will, nevertheless, receive its share of the same. From the foregoing, you will note that what is sought to be accomplished by your resolution is adequately met by the applicable regulations and law. Considering further that under the law (Sec. 262, Tax Code) the duties incident to the measuring of forest products and the collection of forest charges shall be discharged by this Bureau, it follows that your resolution stands on no valid ground. Very truly yours, (SGD.) MELECIO R. DOMINGO Commissioner of Internal Revenue