What Is BIR Form 2200-S? Excise Tax on Sweetened Beverages Explained

BIR Form 2200-S is the Excise Tax Return for Sweetened Beverages — the return manufacturers and importers use to declare and pay the specific excise tax imposed on sweetened, non-alcoholic drinks under Section 150-B of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as added by the TRAIN Law (RA 10963) and implemented by Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 20-2018. The tax is either ₱6.00 or ₱12.00 per liter, depending on the sweetener used, and is separate from VAT.

What is the sweetened beverage excise tax and where does it come from? #

The sweetened beverage excise tax is a specific tax — a fixed peso amount per liter, not a percentage of price — imposed on non-alcoholic, sealed, pre-packaged drinks that contain added caloric or non-caloric sweeteners. It was introduced by Section 47 of the TRAIN Law, which inserted a new Section 150-B into the NIRC, and took effect January 1, 2018. The BIR implemented the mechanics — definitions, rates, exclusions, and return filing — through RR No. 20-2018, issued August 22, 2018. Because it is an excise tax rather than income tax, it is collected once, at the point of production or importation, and its cost is generally passed through to the price consumers pay at retail.

Which beverages are covered, and which are excluded? #

RR No. 20-2018 covers non-alcoholic, pre-packaged, sealed beverages that contain caloric and/or non-caloric sweeteners added by the manufacturer or importer — broad enough to reach sweetened juice drinks, sweetened tea, carbonated soft drinks, flavored water, and energy and sports drinks, whether sold as liquid, powder, or concentrate.

Several categories are excluded outright rather than taxed at a reduced rate:

• Plain milk and flavored milk products
• Soymilk and flavored soymilk
• 100% natural fruit juices
• 100% natural vegetable juices
• Meal-replacement and medically indicated beverages
• Ground coffee, instant soluble coffee, and pre-packaged powdered coffee products
• Beverages sweetened purely with coconut sap sugar
• Beverages sweetened purely with steviol glycosides

A drink blending HFCS with any other sweetener does not qualify for the base ₱6.00 rate — RR No. 20-2018 taxes any HFCS blend at the higher rate instead.

How much excise tax applies, and how is it computed? #

The rate depends entirely on which sweetener the beverage uses, not on its sugar content or calorie count in absolute terms. RR No. 20-2018 sets two specific rates per liter of volume capacity:

RR No. 20-2018 defines the covered products precisely rather than by general description:

“non-alcoholic beverages of any constitution (liquid, powder, or concentrates) that are pre-packaged and sealed in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration standards that contain caloric and/or non-caloric sweeteners added by the manufacturer or importer.”

Because the tax is specific rather than ad valorem, the amount due does not change with selling price — a premium sports drink and a budget soda in the same sweetener class pay the same rate.

Worked example: computing the tax for a beverage manufacturer #

A locally registered beverage manufacturer computes excise tax by multiplying total liters removed from the factory by the applicable per-liter rate — before VAT, and before the goods ever reach a retail shelf.

Assume a fictional manufacturer, “Luntian Refreshments Inc.,” produces a carbonated sweetened tea drink using a blend of cane sugar (a caloric sweetener) and stevia (a non-caloric sweetener) — no HFCS. In one production run, the company packages and releases 40,000 liters (in 350 mL bottles) for distribution in a given month.

• Applicable rate: ₱6.00 per liter (caloric/non-caloric sweetener blend, no HFCS)
• Volume released: 40,000 liters
• Excise tax due: 40,000 × ₱6.00 = ₱240,000

If the same manufacturer instead produced an energy drink sweetened purely with HFCS at the same 40,000-liter volume, the computation would use the ₱12.00 rate instead:

• Excise tax due: 40,000 × ₱12.00 = ₱480,000

Luntian Refreshments reports this liability on BIR Form 2200-S and pays it before the beverages leave the factory — the return comes due at removal from the place of production, not at the point of sale, and is computed independently of the VAT charged on the eventual sale.

Who files BIR Form 2200-S, and when? #

Liability for the excise tax, and the obligation to file BIR Form 2200-S, falls on the manufacturer for domestic production and on the importer or owner for imported beverages, at the point the product leaves BIR or customs control:

1. Local manufacturers file and pay before removing sweetened beverages from the place of production.
2. Any person in possession of a domestically manufactured sweetened beverage removed without payment of the tax is also liable.
3. Importers or owners of imported sweetened beverages file and pay before the goods are released from customs custody.
4. A separate return is required for each factory or place of production — a manufacturer with multiple plants cannot consolidate them onto a single BIR Form 2200-S.

This “pay before removal” structure sets excise compliance apart from most other BIR filings: it is transaction-triggered, not tied to a fixed monthly or quarterly date the way BIR Form 2307 or VAT returns are. See the six BIR excise tax return types compared for how BIR Form 2200-S differs from the returns used for alcohol, tobacco, and other excisable goods, and the 2026 BIR tax filing deadlines calendar for the surrounding filing calendar that applies to a beverage company’s other returns.

Frequently asked questions #

What is BIR Form 2200-S? #

BIR Form 2200-S is the Excise Tax Return for Sweetened Beverages that manufacturers of locally produced sweetened beverages and importers or owners of imported sweetened beverages file with the BIR to declare and pay the excise tax due under RR No. 20-2018 before the goods are removed from the place of production or released from customs custody.

How much is the excise tax on sweetened beverages? #

Under RR No. 20-2018, sweetened beverages using purely caloric sweeteners, purely non-caloric sweeteners, or a blend of both are taxed at ₱6.00 per liter of volume capacity, while sweetened beverages using purely high fructose corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup blended with any caloric or non-caloric sweetener, are taxed at ₱12.00 per liter.

Are all sweetened drinks covered by the excise tax? #

No. RR No. 20-2018 excludes plain milk and flavored milk products, soymilk and flavored soymilk, 100% natural fruit juices, 100% natural vegetable juices, meal-replacement and medically indicated beverages, and ground, instant soluble, and pre-packaged powdered coffee products from the sweetened beverage excise tax, along with beverages sweetened purely with coconut sap sugar or purely with steviol glycosides.

Who is required to file BIR Form 2200-S and when? #

The manufacturer of a locally produced sweetened beverage, or any person in possession of one removed from the place of production without tax having been paid, must file BIR Form 2200-S and pay the excise tax before the beverage leaves the factory. Importers file the return before the beverage is released from customs custody, and a separate return is required for each factory or place of production.

Is BIR Form 2200-S the only excise tax return a beverage business might file? #

No. BIR Form 2200-S is one of several excise tax return types the BIR prescribes for different classes of excisable goods, alongside separate returns for alcohol, tobacco, mineral products, automobiles, and other categories, each with its own coverage and rate structure.

Summary #

BIR Form 2200-S is the mechanism by which the sweetened beverage excise tax created by the TRAIN Law and detailed in RR No. 20-2018 actually gets declared and paid: ₱6.00 per liter for beverages using purely caloric or non-caloric sweeteners (or a blend of the two), ₱12.00 per liter for beverages using purely HFCS or HFCS blended with any other sweetener, and no tax at all for milk, 100% natural juices, medically indicated beverages, ground/instant coffee, or drinks sweetened purely with coconut sap sugar or steviol glycosides. The obligation sits with the manufacturer or importer, is computed on volume rather than price, and is due before the beverage leaves the factory or customs custody — not on a fixed monthly filing date. A business introducing a new sweetened product line should classify its sweetener mix carefully before its first production run, since misclassifying a blend that contains any HFCS as the lower ₱6.00 rate understates the tax due and exposes the manufacturer to deficiency assessment.