How to Generate a RELIEF Purchases DAT File in BIR Online Tools

Generating a RELIEF Purchases DAT file means converting a completed Excel workbook of quarterly local purchases into the delimited format the BIR’s RELIEF program expects. In BIR Online Tools’ RELIEF Purchases tool, that’s the same three-step flow as the other RELIEF listings: download a template, upload your completed data, and let the app validate and convert it.

This guide is part of the App Guide series and follows on from the RELIEF overview. The worked example uses the template’s own built-in example rows, which validate successfully as uploaded.

How do you generate a RELIEF Purchases DAT file step by step? #

1. Download the Excel template #

Open RELIEF from the sidebar, then Purchases. Click Download Excel Template — it arrives with example purchase transactions already on the detail sheet, showing the columns the upload step expects.

2. Fill in your purchase transactions #

Replace the example rows with your quarter’s purchases — supplier TIN, registered name, and amounts broken out by category (services, capital goods, other than capital goods), plus the input VAT on each. Only .xlsx files are accepted.

3. Upload and review validation #

Click Upload Excel File and select your completed workbook. Every row is read and validated before anything converts to a DAT file.

4. Download the DAT file #

Once validation passes, click Download DAT File. The generated file also saves automatically to your DAT Repository.

What do the computed totals mean? #

The validation summary breaks purchases into the categories a RELIEF Purchases listing reports: total exempt, zero-rated, services, capital goods, and other-than-capital-goods amounts, plus total input VAT split into creditable and non-creditable. Creditable input VAT can offset your output VAT liability; non-creditable input VAT — for example, on purchases not directly attributable to VATable sales — cannot, which is why BIR Online Tools totals the two separately.

Frequently asked questions #

What does the RELIEF Purchases template ask for? #

The template captures each purchase transaction — supplier TIN and name, amounts split into services, capital goods, and other than capital goods, and the resulting input VAT — with example rows already filled in.

Where does the buyer information on the DAT file come from? #

Buyer (your company’s) details are pulled from your active company profile rather than typed into the spreadsheet, so set up your company under Company Info before uploading.

What’s the difference between input VAT creditable and non-creditable in the results? #

Creditable input VAT can be applied against your output VAT liability, while non-creditable input VAT — for example on purchases not directly attributable to VATable sales — cannot; the validation summary totals both separately.

What happens if my uploaded purchases file has errors? #

BIR Online Tools reads every row first, then shows a table of every validation error — sheet, row, field, message, and value — before it will let you convert anything to a DAT file.

Summary #

Generating a RELIEF Purchases DAT file in BIR Online Tools takes four steps: download the template, fill in your quarter’s local purchases, upload for validation, and download the finished DAT file once validation passes. See RELIEF Sales or RELIEF Importations for the other two listings, or the RELIEF overview for the module’s filing deadline and full context.