Question & AnswerQ&A (Act No. 1189)
The short title of Act No. 1189 shall be 'The Internal Revenue Law of Nineteen hundred and four.'
The Collector of Internal Revenue shall be appointed by the Civil Governor, with the advice and consent of the Philippine Commission, and shall receive a salary at the rate of eight thousand pesos per annum.
Under the direction of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, the Collector has general superintendence of the assessment and collection of all taxes and excises imposed by the Act or its amendments, preparation and distribution of regulations, direction and instructions, and submission of reports concerning the Bureau's proceedings and collections.
Included taxes are: license tax, tax on distilled spirits, fermented liquors, manufactured tobacco and snuff, cigars and cigarettes, matches, banks and bankers, stamp taxes on specified objects, poll or cedula personal tax, insurance companies, forestry products, valid perfected mining concessions granted prior to April 11, 1899, and tax on business, manufacture, and occupation.
Any internal-revenue officer who divulges any official information or trade secrets obtained in the performance of official duties shall be fined not more than two thousand pesos and imprisoned for a term of not less than one year nor more than five years.
A tax of twenty centavos on each liter of proof spirits manufactured in the Philippine Islands for domestic sale or consumption is levied. The tax is paid by the distillery owners or persons in possession before removal from the distillery or bonded warehouse. Variations apply based on proof strength and package size.
Manufacturers must keep manufacturers' invoice books and register books provided by the Collector of Internal Revenue, with stamped authentication, record full descriptions of goods removed, affix internal-revenue stamps on invoices, cancel stamps properly, and submit monthly transcripts to the provincial treasurer.
Every male inhabitant of the Philippine Islands over 18 and under 60 years old, with certain exceptions, must pay the poll tax annually by purchasing a certificate of registration. Failure to comply results in seizure of property or prosecution with imprisonment, which also satisfies the tax and penalty.
A tax equal to one percent of the total premiums or other considerations received and collected in the Philippine Islands for each calendar year is levied on every insurance company or agency thereof doing business in the Islands.
Taxes are assessed based on classification of timber into groups and provinces into classes, with specific rates per cubic meter of timber cut from public forests and forest reserves. The Collector of Internal Revenue and Chief of the Bureau of Forestry jointly assess the actual market value for taxation of such products.