Exemption from the Requirement of Accomplishing BIR Form No. 17.01-B

July 5, 1960 BIR RULING NO. 276-60 The General Manager The Filipinas Mutual Fund, Inc. P. O. Box 381, Manila S i r : Reference is made to your letter dated June 24, 1960 requesting exemption from the requirement of accomplishing BIR Form No. 17.01-B in connection with your payment of dividends to investors of the Investment Planning Corporation of the Philippines. You manifested that you have on record fifty-two (52) stockholders including the Investment Planning Corporation of the Philippines as trustee of approximately 110,000 individual investors and that you normally declare and pay dividends, either in cash or stocks depending on the stockholders' preference twice a year. We understand that when you pay dividends either in cash or stocks, you make payment direct to the investors of the Investment Planning Corporation and not to the latter as the stockholder on record and that when requested by the Investment Planning Corporation dividends are applied to the accumulation of additional FMF shares instead of being paid in cash. In such case, you issue "Dividend Reinvestment Advice" to the investors of the Investment Planning Corporation. Your problem now is, if you are required to accomplish B.I.R. Form No. 17.01-B, you would be preparing 110,000 of such forms, equivalent to the number of investor, which you claim would entail a big job. You now propose to submit, in lieu of B.I.R. Form No. 17.01-B, duplicate copies of the "Dividend Reinvestment Advice" sample of which was submitted. You also manifested, however, that B.I.R. Form No. 17.01-B will be accomplished for the stockholders including the Investment Planning Corporation of the Philippines. In reply thereto, I have the honor to inform you as follows: We examined very carefully the sample of the "Dividend Reinvestment Advice" you submitted and we find that all the information required by B.I.R. Form No. 17.01-B are reflected therein. Substantially, therefore the submission of the duplicate copies of the "Dividend Reinvestment Advice" constitutes compliance with the provisions of section 77 of the Tax Code. Apparently, however, there will not be sufficient compliance as to the form by which the required information is submitted. However, considering that the substance is the one needed and the form is only a means of conveying the substance, this Office, after considering further the reasons for your request, finds it justifiable to grant your request. Accordingly, you may submit the duplicate copies of the "Dividend Reinvestment Advice" in lieu of B.I.R. Form No. 17.01-B. LLjur Very truly yours, (SGD.) MELECIO R. DOMINGO Commissioner of Internal Revenue