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March 27, 2018DA ITAD BIR RULING NO. 013-18Principle of Reciprocity; BIR Ruling No. ITAD-095-13________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Gentlemen :This has reference to your Note No. 047/18/REC.M dated February 21, 2018 referred to this Office by the Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs, requesting for the exemption from the payment of value-added (VAT) and ad valorem taxes on the local purchase of a motor vehicle for the official use of the Royal Embassy of __________, specifically described as follows: TIADCc Type of Use:OfficialMake:__________________Model Year:0000Color:__________________Frame Number:PA0JW0EMXJ0000000Engine Number:0TRA000000 In reply, please be informed that Article 34 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations reads:"ARTICLE 34A diplomatic agent shall be exempt from all dues and taxes, personal or real, national, regional or municipal, except:(a) indirect taxes of a kind which are normally incorporated in the price of the goods and services;xxx xxx xxx"Thus, the tax exemption privilege of an Embassy and its diplomatic agents does not include exemption from VAT on its local purchases of goods and services. In other words, purchases by that Embassy of goods and/or services...