Imposed travel tax: Who pays and rates
- Section 1 imposes, in lieu of the travel taxes levied under Section three of Republic Act No. 1478 (as amended) and Section six of Republic Act No. 6141, a travel tax on:
- (a) all citizens of the Philippines;
- (b) permanent resident aliens; and
- (c) non-immigrant aliens who have stayed in the Philippines for more than one (1) year and who are leaving the country.
- The tax applies irrespective of the place of issuance of ticket and the form and place of payment.
- Section 1 sets the standard rates as:
- PHP 1,000 for first class passage; and
- PHP 600 for economy class passage.
- Section 1 provides reduced rates that follow Republic Act Nos. 1478 and 6141 for persons enumerated under Section 2-A of the Decree:
- PHP 400 for first class passage; and
- PHP 300 for economy class passage.
- Section 1 authorizes rate adjustments: the rates may be amended from time to time upon recommendation of the Secretary of Tourism, to take effect upon approval by the President.
Exemptions: Travel Tax Exemption Certificate
- Section 2 exempts covered persons from the travel tax imposed under Section 1, but only by securing a Travel Tax Exemption Certificate from the Philippine Tourism Authority.
- Exemptions under Section 2 cover:
- (a) Officials and employees of the Philippine Government or any of its departments, bureaus and instrumentalities traveling on official business;
- (b) persons whose fares are paid out of Philippine Government funds;
- (c) foreign diplomatic and consular officials and members of their staff duly accredited to the Philippines, including immediate members of their families and household domestics whose entry is authorized by the Philippine Government;
- (d) officials, consultants, experts, and employees of the United Nations organization and its agencies, and those exempted under existing laws, treaties, and international agreements;
- (e) personnel of multi-national companies with regional headquarters at but not engaged in business in the Philippines, and their dependents if joining them during their period of assignment in the Philippines, as certified by the Department of Trade;
- (f) crew members of ships and airplanes plying international routes who are leaving the country to join their vessels or airplane or to assume their positions therein;
- (g) Filipino citizens who are permanent residents of foreign countries who have stayed in the Philippines for not more than one (1) year;
- (h) bona-fide students whose studies are approved by the NEDA Scholarship Committee and foreign students whose studies are financed by their government or by an international organization;
- (i) infants who are two years old or less;
- (j) scientists and experts invited by the Philippine Government in the interest of science and technology, of any nationality;
- (k) destitutes certified by the Department of Social Services & Development as such needing medical treatment not available in the Philippines as certified by the Department of Health, with fares paid for by private individuals and charitable institutions and organizations; and
- (l) those authorized by the President of the Philippines for reasons of national interest.
Reduced rates: Section 2-A categories
- Section 3 inserts Section 2-A, providing that unless otherwise exempted under Section 2, reduced rates apply to the following persons:
- PHP 400 for first class passage and PHP 300 for economy class passage.
- Reduced rates apply to:
- (a) contract workers, their spouses, and dependents 21 years of age or below, with approved employment contracts and duly certified by the Department of Labor;
- (b) Filipino journalists duly accredited by the Secretary of Public Information whose travel is for journalistic assignments, as certified by their editors;
- (c) officials and employees of government-owned and controlled corporations traveling on official business;
- (d) members of government-organized economic, trade, tourism and cultural missions and/or exhibits, as certified by the Department concerned;
- (e) individuals who are twelve years old or below but over 2 years of age;
- (f) persons traveling for the first time as emigrants with valid emigrant visas;
- (g) those traveling under steerage class;
- (h) officials and employees of travel operators, airline and shipping companies traveling on non-revenue tickets, discounted tickets, and tickets with service fees as part of their employment contracts;
- (i) spouses and dependents of airline and shipping personnel traveling on non-revenue tickets as part of their spouses’ employment contracts;
- (j) recipients of awards and grants from foreign governments, institutions and organizations, as certified to by the NEDA; and
- (k) those authorized by the President of the Philippines for reasons of national interest.
- Section 1 ties the reduced rates in Section 2-A to the PHP 400/PHP 300 figures.
Non-revenue tickets: Treatment for travel tax
- Section 4 amends Section 3 to require that persons traveling on non-revenue tickets must pay the travel tax under Section 1, based on the classification of their non-revenue tickets, unless otherwise exempted.
- The only express exception in the non-revenue-tickets rule is for officials of travel operators, airline and shipping companies traveling on official company business.
- Section 4 provides that, for purposes of exemption, discounted tickets and tickets with service fees are not considered non-revenue tickets.
Collection mechanics and remittance responsibilities
- Section 5 amends Section 4 to require that the travel tax shall be collected by:
- carriers or their agents issuing the tickets; and
- carriers must remit their collections to the Philippine Tourism Authority.
- Section 5 provides for travel arrangements without passenger tickets:
- In cases where no passenger tickets are issued or in chartered flights and shipping agreements, the charterer shall collect travel taxes due and remit them to the carrier.
- The carrier then becomes responsible for remitting the collections to the Philippine Tourism Authority.
- Section 5 assigns additional responsibility for private arrangements:
- In cases of non-commercial carriers or private air crafts, remittances of collections and submission of reports to the Philippine Tourism Authority are the responsibility of the charterer or the owner of the private aircraft.
Verification of books and records
- Section 6 inserts Section 4-A, which requires that verification and examination of the books of accounts and other records of:
- carriers,
- charterers, and
- travel agencies or their representatives,
in connection with travel tax collections, shall be as provided for by existing laws.
Tax clearance: No travel-tax clearance
- Section 7 repeals Section 5 of P.D. 1183.
- No tax clearance is required for purposes of travel.
Authority powers: Rules and penalties via fines/surcharges
- Section 8 amends Section 6 to vest in the Secretary of Tourism, in the capacity as Chairman of the Board, Philippine Tourism Authority, the power to:
- promulgate rules and regulations; and
- impose fines and sur-charges to carry out the provisions of the decree and for effective collection of the tax imposed herein.
Repeal of inconsistent issuances and effectivity
- Section 9 repeals or modifies inconsistent acts, decrees, executive orders, administrative orders, rules and regulations, or parts thereof.
- Section 10 provides that the decree takes effect fifteen days after approval.