Philippine Court Clarifies Input VAT Refunds for Zero-Rated Sales to Nonresident Foreign Clients

The Philippine Court of Tax Appeals clarified rules on input VAT refunds for zero-rated sales.
A taxpayer’s refund was partially denied by the BIR for lacking a foreign incorporation certificate from its client.
The Court found that a certification of non-registration and Canadian letters patent proved the client was a nonresident foreign corporation not doing business in the Philippines.
The sales to the client were deemed zero-rated, and the taxpayer met all other zero-rating conditions.
The taxpayer’s petition for a VAT refund was granted.

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.