Airlines with congressional franchises no longer need to secure clearance from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to be able to import aircraft and equipment once they can prove these purchases are tied to public safety concerns.
Under Finance Department Order (DO) No. 28-2015 dated March 6, 2015 and issued by Undersecretary Carlo Carag, airline companies granted a congressional franchise “may be exempted from obtaining the Importers Clearance Certificate [ICC] from the Bureau of Internal Revenue [BIR]… on specific importations of aircraft, equipment, machinery and spare parts, on the basis of overriding and paramount public policy, public safety and public necessity considerations.”
However, the airlines are still required to submit the documentary requirements imposed by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for import accreditation and to comply with other existing regulations, DO No. 28-2015 stated.
Moreover, to avail of the exemption, applicants must include a certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines of the need for the importation “in view of public safety.”
Under the order which took effect immediately, the Customs commissioner is tasked to ensure that the exemption privilege is granted only to airlines that have complied with accreditation requirements. BOC should also submit to the DOF a monthly report of all the importation activities of accredited airlines.
In February last year, DOF, which is the BOC and BIR’s mother agency, issued DO No. 12-2014 that requires a two-tier import accreditation process. Under this regulation, all importers and customs brokers first need to secure clearance from BIR before proceeding to seek accreditation with the BOC.
PEZA exemptions
In December last year, DOF ordered that Philippine Economic Zone locators be exempt from having to secure an ICC from the BIR and be immediately granted accreditation as importers with BOC.
BOC may, however, request for a certified list of registered locators from PEZA, and may also require submission of documents and information about PEZA locators prior to granting accreditation.
The BIR, for its part, also amended its requirements for importers and customs brokers, no longer demanding a certified copy of applicants’ certificate of registration with the BIR or their business registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
However, applicants will need to submit a certification issued by the revenue district that they have no pending criminal charges, delinquent accounts, or tax liabilities. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of nitinut at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
