RMC No. 10-2026: How the BIR Handles Donor's Tax on Purely Cash Donations
RMC No. 10-2026, issued by the BIR on February 4, 2026, clarifies the tax treatment, documentation, filing, and payment of donor’s tax specifically for gifts made purely in cash. It confirms the existing 6% rate on net gifts over ₱250,000 still applies, but adds compliance-specific rules for cash: mandatory electronic filing of BIR Form 1800, a 30-day window to submit supporting documents to the Revenue District Office (RDO), and confirmation that an eCAR is not required.
Track Your Donor's Tax Filings and Deadlines FREE →What is RMC No. 10-2026 and why did the BIR issue it? #
RMC No. 10-2026 is a Revenue Memorandum Circular the BIR issued on February 4, 2026, addressing donations that consist purely of cash — as opposed to real property, shares of stock, or other assets that require a title or registry transfer. It covers cash gifts made to natural or juridical persons, including individuals, foundations, schools, NGOs, and other organizations, within the same calendar year.
The circular exists because the general framework in BIR Form 1800: Donor’s Tax Return Rates, Deadlines, and Filing Requirements was written with property donations in mind — donations where an eCAR ultimately matters because a Registry of Deeds or a stock transfer agent needs one to record a change of ownership. Cash does not have a registry to update, and that gap left donors and RDOs applying property-donation procedures to cash gifts inconsistently. RMC No. 10-2026 closes that gap by spelling out what applies to cash-only donations specifically, and what does not.
Does RMC No. 10-2026 change the 6% rate or the ₱250,000 exemption? #
No — RMC No. 10-2026 does not alter the donor’s tax rate or the annual exemption threshold. Donor’s tax on cash donations remains a flat 6% of total net gifts made by a donor during the calendar year that exceed ₱250,000, under NIRC Section 99 as amended by the TRAIN Law (Republic Act No. 10963). The circular operates within that existing rate structure; it clarifies compliance steps for cash gifts, not the underlying computation.
This distinction matters because a donor reading news coverage of a “new BIR circular on cash donations” might assume the tax itself changed. It did not. What changed is how a cash donation gets filed, documented, and processed by the RDO — covered in the sections below.
What does RMC No. 10-2026 require for filing and payment? #
RMC No. 10-2026 requires that the Donor’s Tax Return (BIR Form 1800) for a purely cash donation be filed electronically, through the eBIRForms Facility, the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS), or another BIR-authorized electronic channel — a manual, over-the-counter return is no longer the default path for a cash-only gift. Payment, however, still has two options: electronically through the BIR’s ePayment channels, or manually through an Authorized Agent Bank (AAB).
The return and its supporting documents are filed with:
- The RDO with jurisdiction over the donor’s residence, if the donor is an individual
- The RDO where the donor is registered, if the donor is a non-individual entity
- The Large Taxpayers Division, if the donor is registered as a large taxpayer
What is the eCAR clarification, and why does it matter? #
RMC No. 10-2026’s clearest compliance simplification is confirming that an eCAR is not required for a donation consisting purely of cash. An Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration exists to let a government registry — the Registry of Deeds for land, a stock transfer agent for shares — record a change of legal ownership. Cash carries no such registry entry, so the document that normally gates a property donation’s transfer has no cash equivalent to gate.
As Grant Thornton Philippines summarized in its coverage of the circular:
“The Circular clarifies that an Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration (’eCAR’) is not required for purely cash donations.”
— Grant Thornton Philippines, describing RMC No. 10-2026
This matters in practice because donors who have previously filed BIR Form 1800 for real property gifts — where waiting on an eCAR to clear before a title transfers is routine — sometimes assume the same wait applies to cash. RMC No. 10-2026 removes that expectation for cash-only gifts: once the return is filed and any tax paid, the transaction does not need a registry certificate to be considered complete for BIR purposes.
What documents must be submitted, and within what deadline? #
RMC No. 10-2026 requires a donor to submit a defined set of documents to the RDO within 30 days from completion of the gift — the same 30-day window that governs filing BIR Form 1800 itself under the general donor’s tax rules, now applied specifically to cash-donation paperwork.
- A notarized Deed of Donation covering the cash gift
- Proof of the cash transfer — an official receipt, bank deposit slip, or fund transfer confirmation
- Evidence of filing BIR Form 1800 and proof of tax payment, if any tax was due
- Identification documents for both the donor and the donee
| Requirement | What changed under RMC No. 10-2026 | What stayed the same |
|---|---|---|
| Tax rate and exemption | Unchanged | Flat 6% on net gifts over ₱250,000 (NIRC Sec. 99) |
| Filing method for BIR Form 1800 | Now mandatory electronic filing (eBIRForms/eFPS) | — |
| Payment method | — | ePayment or Authorized Agent Bank, donor’s choice |
| Documentary submission window | Clarified list of 4 required documents | Still tied to the 30-day post-gift window |
| eCAR | Confirmed not required for cash | Still required for property/shares donations |
| Filing venue | — | RDO of donor’s residence/registration, or LTD |
Worked example: a ₱500,000 cash gift from a parent to a child #
A parent transfers ₱500,000 in cash to an adult child in May 2026 to help cover tuition, with no other gifts made earlier in the year. Applying the unchanged 6% rate and ₱250,000 exemption alongside RMC No. 10-2026’s compliance steps shows exactly what the donor files and when.
| Step | Amount / Action |
|---|---|
| Gross cash gift | ₱500,000 |
| Less: annual exemption (NIRC Sec. 99) | ₱250,000 |
| Net taxable gift | ₱250,000 |
| Donor’s tax due (6%) | ₱15,000 |
| Filing method | BIR Form 1800 via eBIRForms or eFPS (mandatory e-filing under RMC No. 10-2026) |
| Payment method | ePayment channel or Authorized Agent Bank (donor’s choice) |
| Documents submitted to RDO within 30 days of the May 2026 transfer | Notarized Deed of Donation; bank transfer confirmation as proof of the cash transfer; copy of the filed BIR Form 1800 and payment confirmation; valid IDs for parent and child |
| eCAR required? | No — cash is not registrable property |
The parent’s RDO is the one with jurisdiction over the parent’s residence, since the parent is the donor and an individual. If the same parent had instead made a ₱500,000 cash donation to a BIR-accredited nonstock, nonprofit institution, the gift could qualify for exemption under NIRC Section 101 instead of the 6% computation above — but only if the donee’s administrative expenses stay within the statutory limit and the accreditation documentation is on file, a separate condition RMC No. 10-2026 does not waive.
Frequently asked questions #
What is RMC No. 10-2026? #
RMC No. 10-2026 is a Revenue Memorandum Circular the BIR issued on February 4, 2026, clarifying the tax treatment, documentation requirements, filing of return, and payment of donor’s tax specifically for donations that consist purely of cash, as distinguished from donations of real property, shares, or other registrable assets.
Did RMC No. 10-2026 change the donor’s tax rate or exemption amount? #
No. RMC No. 10-2026 does not change the underlying rate or exemption — donor’s tax on cash donations remains a flat 6% on total net gifts exceeding ₱250,000 per donor per calendar year, under NIRC Section 99 as amended by the TRAIN Law. The circular clarifies compliance mechanics for cash gifts, not the tax computation itself.
Is a Donor’s Tax Return for a cash donation required to be filed electronically? #
Yes. RMC No. 10-2026 requires that BIR Form 1800 for donations consisting purely of cash be filed electronically, through the eBIRForms Facility, the Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS), or another BIR-authorized electronic channel, rather than manually over the counter.
Do I still need an eCAR for a cash donation? #
No. RMC No. 10-2026 clarifies that an Electronic Certificate Authorizing Registration (eCAR) is not required for donations consisting purely of cash, because cash is not registrable property and does not require a transfer of title through any government registry, unlike a donation of real property or shares.
What documents must be submitted after a cash donation, and by when? #
RMC No. 10-2026 requires the donor to submit a notarized Deed of Donation, proof of the cash transfer (such as an official receipt, bank deposit slip, or fund transfer confirmation), evidence of filing BIR Form 1800 and payment of any tax due, and identification documents for both donor and donee, to the Revenue District Office within 30 days from completion of the gift.
Where is a cash donation’s Donor’s Tax Return and documents filed? #
The return and supporting documents go to the Revenue District Office (RDO) with jurisdiction over the donor’s residence if the donor is an individual, or where the donor is registered if the donor is a non-individual entity, or to the Large Taxpayers Division if the donor is registered as a large taxpayer.
Summary #
RMC No. 10-2026 leaves the substance of donor’s tax on cash gifts untouched — 6% on net gifts over ₱250,000 per donor per calendar year still governs — while tightening how a purely cash donation gets processed: BIR Form 1800 must be filed electronically, a defined set of four documents goes to the RDO within 30 days of the gift, and no eCAR is needed because cash is not registrable property. For the general donor’s tax framework this circular sits within, see BIR Form 1800: Donor’s Tax Return Rates, Deadlines, and Filing Requirements, and for how a cash gift to an accredited institution can instead qualify as a deductible donation rather than a taxable gift, see Donations to Accredited NGOs: Deductibility Under Section 34(H).