REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 37-2022 issued on September 15, 2022 amends
Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 24-A-1974 and RMO No. 29-1994, as amended
by RMO No. 43-2016 providing the policies and guidelines for the issuance of International
Carriers Special Certificate (ICSC).
This Order covers International Carriers applying for ICSC (hereinafter referred to as
ICSC applicants). New ICSC applicants shall register and secure Taxpayer Identification
Number (TIN) online through the BIR’s Online Registration and Update System (ORUS) at
https://orus.bir.gov.ph or by visiting the BIR website at www.bir.gov.ph under the “eServices
icon”. For applicants with existing TIN, International Carriers shall use their existing TIN
when applying for the ICSC.
The ICSC applicants shall upload scanned copies of the original documents listed in
Section III.A.1 of the Order. In case of system downtime or system unavailability of ORUS,
the ICSC applicant shall register with RDO No. 39-South Quezon City through electronic
submission of application using the New Business Registration (NewBizReg) Portal under
the “eServices icon” or via email. The email address and subject shall be automatically
displayed by the portal for ICSC applicant reference.
It shall be the responsibility of the Agent to register the ICSC applicant (principal) it
represents and apply for the latter’s TIN and ensure that the ICSC applicant does not have
an existing TIN. It shall be the responsibility of the Agent or new Agent to update the
registration information of the ICSC applicant and apply for the cancellation of the multiple
TINs of the ICSC applicant.
During registration, the designation of email address is mandatory, and such email
addresses should be of the principal or ICSC applicant’s official and permanent email
address. The designated permanent e-mail address shall be the official e-mail address of the
registered individual or non-individual taxpayers and not the e-mail address of the authorized
representative or Agent. Notices, letters, and other processes of the Bureau may be sent
through the designated permanent email address.
In case of change of Agent, the new Agent shall update its principal’s registration
information as its new Agent. The Agent shall also ensure that its principal does not have a
multiple TIN.
The following taxes shall be paid by the ICSC Applicant:
a. Income Tax of two and one-half percent (2½%) of the Gross Philippine Billings
imposed under Section 28(A)(3)(a) and (b) of the NIRC, as amended unless it is
subject to a preferential rate or exemption on the basis of an applicable tax treaty
or international agreement to which the
Philippines is a signatory or the basis of reciprocity; and
b. Percentage Tax equivalent to three percent (3%) of the gross receipts pursuant
to Section 118 of the NIRC, as amended.
The Gross Philippine Billings/Gross Receipts shall be computed using the exchange
rate at the time of payment.
The agent shall file the pertinent payment forms for the ICSC applicant using the TIN
and name of such ICSC applicant. The agent should not use its own TIN in filing the payment
forms of the ICSC applicant and it shall be the duty of agent to ensure the timely filing and
payments of the principal.
Prior to the application for ICSC, the Income Tax and Percentage Tax shall be paid
separately using BIR Form No. 0605 for each tax type, indicating in the Alphanumeric Tax
Code (ATC) field the following information:
For Income Tax – ATC code is “IC080”
For Percentage Tax – ATC code is “PT041”
For Certification Fee – ATC code is “MC200”
For ₱30 DST – ATC code is “DS 010”
The ICSC applicant shall indicate the transaction date as the return period date in the
form. The BIR Form No. 0605 may also be prepared and filed through the offline eBIRForms
package, which is downloadable from www.bir.gov.ph or www.knowyourtaxes.ph/ebirforms.
For every filing of payment form, the designated email address should be of the ICSC
applicant official and permanent email address registered with the BIR’s registration system
and not the email address of the authorized representative or Agent. In case of change of
email address of the principal, the Agent shall update immediately the permanent email
address of the principal with the Bureau.
Payment of the applicable taxes shall be paid using any of the following electronic
payment channels.
a. Development Bank of the Philippines’ (DBP) pay Tax online (for holders or
VISA/Mastercard Credit Card and/or BancNet ATM/Debit Card);
b. Land Bank of the Philippines’ (LBP) Link.BizPortal (for taxpayers who have
ATM/Debit/prepaid card and for taxpayers utilizing PCHC PayGate or PESONet
facility for depositors of RCBC, Robinsons Bank, Union Bank,
BPI, PSBank, and Asia United Bank);
c. Union Bank of the Philippines’ Online/The Portal Payment Facilities (for taxpayer
who has an account with UBP) and UPAY via InstaPay (for individual NonUnionBank Accountholders); and
d. Tax Software Provider/Taxpayer Agent (GCash/PayMaya/MyEG)
The ICSC applicant, which shall avail of the electronic payment (ePay), may access
the abovementioned ePayment channels of Authorized Agents Banks (AABs) by directly
accessing the AABs’ payment portal or through the BIR’s website by clicking the “ePay” icon.
ICSC applicants/holders of BancNet ATM Card should register their account with
BancNet in order to avail the bank’s online payment facility. Taxpayer who has an account
with the BancNet participating banks (listed in the Order) can use their ATM Card in paying
taxes online with LBP’s Link.BizPortal and DBP’s Pay Tax Online.
The ICSC applicant shall bear any convenience fee that may be charged by banks
and/or mobile companies for using their online payment facilities. Upon successful payment,
a confirmation of payment will be sent through the email of the ICSC applicant with
corresponding transaction number from the payment channel, to be declared during the
online application or in BIR Form No. 1948.
The ICSC shall only be issued upon payment of 3% common carrier’s tax (Percentage
Tax) and 2.5% Income Tax (Gross Philippine Billings) unless the preferential rate is used
pursuant to Sections 118(B) and 28(A)(3)(b), respectively, of the 1997 Tax Code, as
amended. The Regional Director of RR No. 7A-Quezon City shall, upon application (Annex
C) and evaluation of documentary requirements (Annex D), issue the ICSC. The
documentary requirements to be submitted before the issuance of ICSC are listed in Section
III.C.3 of the Order.
The ₱100 certification fee and ₱30 loose Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) shall be filed
electronically using BIR Form No. 0605 through eBIRForms Package and pay online through
BIR ePayment Channels separately.
For the ePayment of loose DST, constructive affixing of DST on the Certificate shall
be done by the concerned office by stamping “DST Paid Online” including the Payment
Transaction Number and Date of Payment, at the lower portion of the
Certificate.
Online application for International Carrier Service Certificate shall be made through
the BIR website at https://www.bir.gov.ph under “eServices” icon and by clicking the “eICSC”
icon. An application reference number shall be received upon successful submission.
The documentary requirements shall be electronically filed thru the BIR ICSC
Centralized email address: icsc_1948@bir.gov.ph with “Application for ICSC [REF. NO.
_______________]” as email subject line format. All the required documentary requirements
shall be prepared and scanned in PDF copy and compressed into one (1) .zip file which shall
not exceed 10MB file size.
The issuance of ICSC is delegated to the Office of the Regional Director of Revenue
Region No. 7A-Quezon City. The Regional Director shall sign the above certificates to be
submitted by the International Carriers to the Bureau of Customs.
If circumstances require, like non-viewing of payments within the given processing
time, immediate post-payment verification shall be done by the Office of the Regional Director
and shall contact the Agent of the ICSC applicant in case of discrepancies or issues on
payment or submitted proof of payments and/or documents.
The Office of the Regional Director shall submit a quarterly and annual reports for the
period to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner Legal Group every 10th of the month
following the quarter and January 10th, respectively, on the list of issued certificates to
International Carriers and collections from the payment of taxes of International Carriers.