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AAC Tax Code.

The National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 as it currently stands — consolidated by the firm to carry the TRAIN Law, the CREATE Act, the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, the VAT on Digital Services Act, CREATE MORE, the CMEPA and the amendatory laws in force to 1 August 2026, with a footnote at every provision naming the law that changed it.

Text current as at 1 August 2026. This is an unofficial consolidation prepared by the firm and not the official text of the Code. Repealed provisions are kept, struck through, so that references in earlier records stay traceable.
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The printed edition runs to 240 pages and carries the same text, footnotes and references as the browser below. Every section here shows the page it sits on in that PDF, so a citation taken from the screen matches the one taken from the book.

TITLE VII — DOCUMENTARY STAMP TAX

SEC. 199. Documents and Papers Not Subject to Stamp Tax

Page 143 of the PDF edition

The provisions of Section 173 to the contrary notwithstanding, the following instruments, documents and papers shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax:

(a) Policies of insurance or annuities made or granted by a fraternal or beneficiary society, order, association or cooperative company, operated on the lodge system or local cooperation plan and organized and conducted solely by the members thereof for the exclusive benefit of each member and not for profit.

(b) Certificates of oaths administered to any government official in his official capacity or of acknowledgment by any government official in the performance of his official duties, written appearance in any court by any government official, in his official capacity; certificates of the administration of oaths to any person as to the authenticity of any paper required to be filed in court by any person or party thereto, whether the proceedings be civil or criminal; papers and documents filed in courts by or for the national, provincial, city or municipal governments; affidavits of poor persons for the purpose of proving poverty; statements and other compulsory information required of persons or corporations by the rules and regulations of the national, provincial, city or municipal governments exclusively for statistical purposes and which are wholly for the use of the bureau or office in which they are filed, and not at the instance or for the use or benefit of the person filing them; certified copies and other certificates placed upon documents, instruments and papers for the national, provincial, city or municipal governments, made at the instance and for the sole use of some other branch of the national, provincial, city or municipal governments; and certificates of the assessed value of lands, not exceeding Two hundred pesos (P200) in value assessed, furnished by the provincial, city or municipal Treasurer to applicants for registration of title to land.

(c) Borrowing and lending of securities executed under the Securities Borrowing and Lending Program of a registered exchange, or in accordance with regulations prescribed by the appropriate regulatory authority: Provided, however, That any borrowing or lending of securities agreement as contemplated hereof shall be duly covered by a master securities borrowing and lending agreement acceptable to the appropriate regulatory authority, and which agreement is duly registered and approved by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

(d) Loan agreements or promissory notes, the aggregate of which does not exceed Two hundred fifty thousand pesos (P250,000), or any such amount as may be determined by the Secretary of Finance, executed by an individual for his purchase on installment for his personal use or that of his family and not for business or resale, barter or hire of a house, lot, motor vehicle, appliance or furniture: Provided, however, That the amount to be set by the Secretary of Finance shall be in accordance with a relevant price index but not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the current amount and shall remain in force at least for three (3) years.

(e) Sale, exchange, redemption, or other disposition of shares of stock listed and traded through a local or foreign stock exchange.

(f) Assignment or transfer of any mortgage, lease or policy of insurance, or the renewal or continuance of any agreement, contract, charter, or any evidence of obligation or indebtedness, if there is no change in the maturity date or remaining period of coverage from that of the original instrument.

(g) Fixed income and other securities traded in the secondary market or through an exchange.

(h) Derivatives: Provided, That for purposes of this exemption, repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements shall be treated similarly as derivatives.

(i) Interbranch or interdepartmental advances within the same legal entity.

(j) All forbearances arising from sales or service contracts including credit card and trade receivables: Provided, That the exemption be limited to those executed by the seller or service provider itself.

(k) Bank deposit accounts without a fixed term or maturity.

(l) All contracts, deeds, documents and transactions related to the conduct of business of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

(m) Transfer of property pursuant to Section 40(c)(2) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.

(n) Interbank call loans with maturity of not more than seven (7) days to cover deficiency in reserves against deposit liabilities, including those between or among banks and quasi-banks.

(o) Original issuance, redemption, or other disposition of shares in a mutual fund company.

(p) Issuance of certificate or other evidence of participation in a mutual fund or unit investment trust fund.

Amendment notes

  1. Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act (RA 12214), sec. 23, approved 29 May 2025 — amended. Item (e) previously exempted the sale, barter or exchange of shares of stock listed and traded through the local stock exchange; the exemption now extends to redemption and other dispositions and to foreign stock exchanges. Items (o) and (p) are new. The intervening items were not amended and are printed "x x x" in the Act.
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