ITAD Ruling No. 190-00
ITAD Ruling No. 190-00 • Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Issuances • International Tax Affairs Division (ITAD) Rulings • Dec 7, 2000
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December 7, 2000 ITAD RULING NO. 190-00 Section 106 Section 108 ITAD No. 22-99 Embassy of the Argentine Republic 6th Floor ACT Tower 135 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue Salcedo Village, Makati City Attention: Juan L . Garibaldi Ambassador Gentlemen : This refers to your Note No. DAE/67/2000 dated August 22, 2000, which was referred to this Office by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), requesting for value-added tax (VAT) refund on the purchase of furniture and other household belongings of the Embassy. In reply, please be informed that pursuant to Article 34 of the Vienna Convention On Diplomatic Relations, pertinent portions of which read: "ARTICLE 34 "A diplomatic agent shall be exempt from all dues and taxes, personal or real, national, regional, or municipal, except: "(a) indirect taxes of a kind which are normally incorporated in the price of the goods and services "xxx xxx xxx" the tax exemption privilege of an Embassy and its diplomatic agents do not include exemption from value-added tax (VAT) on their local purchases of goods and services, in other words, purchases by that Embassy of goods and/or services shall be subject to the VAT prescribed under Sections 106(A) and 108 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997. However, under the principle of reciprocity, this Office may grant exemption to the Embassy of the Argentine Republic on its local purchase of goods and/or services it appearing from the list submitted by the DFA dated June 2, 2000 and the indorsement letter of the DFA Office of Protocol dated August 30, 2000 that your Government allows similar exemption to Philippine Embassy on its purchase of goods and services in your country. (ITAD No. 22-99 dated August 26, 2000) cTaDHS Hence, the Embassy of the Argentine Republic is exempt from value-added tax on its local purchase of goods and/or services based on reciprocity and is entitled to claim VAT refund on the purchase of furniture and other household belongings. Very truly yours, (SGD.) LILIAN B. HEFTI Deputy Commissioner Legal and Enforcement Group
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