BIR exempts from income, excise taxes the sale of gold to BSP
Published Feb 19, 2020 12:00 am
By Jun RamirezÂ
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has exempted from income and excise taxes the sale of gold to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to strengthen the country's gross international reserves.
BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay issued Revenue Regulations No. 4-2020 to encourage gold traders to sell the commodity again to the BSP and no longer divert it to the black market.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (MANILA BULLETIN)
Informed sources disclosed that gold traders had shied away from selling the precious metal, extracted mostly from mines in Bicol and Mindanao, to the BSP after the previous BIR administration came out with a regulation imposing income tax on such transactions.
Subsequently, the BIR filed multi-billion-peso tax evasion charges against those who failed to pay the tax.
At least two respondents were convicted of the crime by the Court of Tax Appeals last year, which cases are now being heard by the Supreme Court. To avoid paying taxes and prosecution, the same sources said traders smuggled the metal to neighboring countries, to the detriment of the country's gold reserves.
Under the revised guidelines, the sale of gold by accredited traders and registered small-scale miners (SSM) is now exempt from both income and excise taxes.
According to the guidelines, if excise tax was paid prior to the sale of the gold to the BSP, the taxpayer may file a refund claim with the BIR.
To get the tax-free privilege, a trader must secure a tax identification number (TIN) that shall serve as the basis for the income and excise tax exemption of his sale.
The regulations define accredited traders as a person or entity engaged in the business of buying and selling gold that has complied with the BSP's gold trader accreditation.
On the other hand, SSM refers to Filipino citizens who have organized themselves as individual miners or cooperatives duly licensed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to be engaged in the extraction of minerals under the terms of a small-scale mining contract.
Bureau of Internal Revenue (MANILA BULLETIN)
Informed sources disclosed that gold traders had shied away from selling the precious metal, extracted mostly from mines in Bicol and Mindanao, to the BSP after the previous BIR administration came out with a regulation imposing income tax on such transactions.
Subsequently, the BIR filed multi-billion-peso tax evasion charges against those who failed to pay the tax.
At least two respondents were convicted of the crime by the Court of Tax Appeals last year, which cases are now being heard by the Supreme Court. To avoid paying taxes and prosecution, the same sources said traders smuggled the metal to neighboring countries, to the detriment of the country's gold reserves.
Under the revised guidelines, the sale of gold by accredited traders and registered small-scale miners (SSM) is now exempt from both income and excise taxes.
According to the guidelines, if excise tax was paid prior to the sale of the gold to the BSP, the taxpayer may file a refund claim with the BIR.
To get the tax-free privilege, a trader must secure a tax identification number (TIN) that shall serve as the basis for the income and excise tax exemption of his sale.
The regulations define accredited traders as a person or entity engaged in the business of buying and selling gold that has complied with the BSP's gold trader accreditation.
On the other hand, SSM refers to Filipino citizens who have organized themselves as individual miners or cooperatives duly licensed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to be engaged in the extraction of minerals under the terms of a small-scale mining contract.