The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 112-2021 on November 10, 2021 to address the issues and concerns in relation to the requirement of an Authority to Release Imported Goods (ATRIG) for the importation of perishable agricultural food products that are exempt from Value-Added Tax (VAT) under Section 109(1)(A) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (Tax Code), as amended.
The Circular provides that the ATRIG shall no longer be necessary in the release of imported perishable agricultural food products from the custody of the Bureau of Customs (BOC). This is undertaken to further carry out the purpose of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11032, otherwise known as the "Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018”.
Furthermore, RMC 112-2021 also amended the provisions in Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1-2002, which added therein the phrase “SUCH AS BUT NOT LIMITED TO”, particularly under sections C and D, which now reads:
C. UNPROCESSED VEGETABLES PRODUCTS (Whether whole, cut, sliced, broken, dried, fresh, chilled, frozen, shelled, skinned or split), SUCH AS BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
D. UNPROCESSED EDIBLE FRUITS AND NUTS (Whether fresh or dried, shelled or peeled), BUT NOT BOTTLED, POWDERED OR CANNED), SUCH AS BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
Provided, however, that pending resolution on the taxability of certain imported articles and the issuance of clear policies and procedures on the issuance of certifications from concerned regulatory government agencies, the appropriate ATRIG shall still be secured from the BIR on the following articles until such time that a supplemental Circular expanding the coverage of the above list shall have been issued:
- Feed and feed ingredients;
- Fertilizers; AND
- Articles subject to excise tax as well as on the raw materials, apparatus, or mechanical contrivances, and equipment specially used for the manufacture thereof.
Please be guided accordingly.
Source:
P&A Grant Thornton
Certified Public Accountants
As published in SunStar Cebu, dated 29 December 2021
