Documentary Stamp Tax on a Special Power of Attorney: BIR Rules Under NIRC Section 193

A Special Power of Attorney (SPA) executed in the Philippines carries a documentary stamp tax (DST) of ₱10.00 under NIRC Section 193, a flat amount that applies regardless of the peso value of whatever transaction the SPA authorizes — a ₱50,000 bank withdrawal and a ₱50,000,000 property sale both carry the same ₱10.00 DST on the power of attorney itself. The tax exempts only a narrow category: powers of attorney connected with collecting claims due the national or a local government.

What does NIRC Section 193 actually tax? #

Section 193 of the National Internal Revenue Code imposes documentary stamp tax on the instrument itself — the power of attorney — not on the underlying transaction the attorney-in-fact goes on to perform. This is the same structural logic as every other DST provision under NIRC Title VII: the tax attaches to the act of executing a specific class of legal document, separate and apart from whatever income tax, capital gains tax, or VAT consequence the transaction described in that document might later trigger.

The operative text, as it stands after the TRAIN Law’s across-the-board doubling of most DST rates, reads:

“On each power of attorney to perform any act whatsoever, except acts connected with the collection of claims due from or accruing to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, or the government of any province, city or municipality, there shall be collected a documentary stamp tax of Ten pesos (₱10.00).”

— NIRC Section 193, as amended by Republic Act No. 10963 (the TRAIN Law)

Before TRAIN took effect on January 1, 2018, the same section set the rate at ₱5.00. RA No. 10963 doubled this along with most of the other fixed-peso DST amounts under Title VII — the same pattern that lifted the lease DST under Section 194 and several other flat-amount stamp taxes to their current figures.

What kind of document counts as a “power of attorney” here? #

Section 193 reaches any power of attorney authorizing an agent (an “attorney-in-fact”) to perform an act on the principal’s behalf — most commonly a Special Power of Attorney (SPA), though a General Power of Attorney falls under the same rule. In everyday Philippine practice, an SPA is the document a bank, the Registry of Deeds, a government office, or a private counterparty asks for when someone signs, sells, withdraws, or claims something on another person’s behalf without that person appearing in person. Typical uses include:

• Authorizing a relative or broker to sign a deed of sale or accept payment for a property sale on the principal’s behalf
• Authorizing an agent to process a bank transaction, loan release, or fund withdrawal
• Authorizing a representative to appear at a Registry of Deeds, BIR Revenue District Office, or LTO transaction
• Authorizing an attorney-in-fact to sign on a principal’s behalf in a corporate or civil transaction while the principal is abroad or otherwise unavailable

Each of these is a separate SPA document and, unless the narrow government-claims exemption applies, each carries its own ₱10.00 DST — the tax is per instrument, not per underlying transaction value.

The one exemption Section 193 actually carves out #

Section 193 exempts only powers of attorney connected with collecting claims due from, or accruing to, the national government or a province, city, or municipality — it does not create a general exemption for government-related paperwork, low-value transactions, or SPAs used for personal rather than business purposes. An SPA authorizing someone to claim a tax refund check from the national government, for example, could fall inside this narrow carve-out. An SPA authorizing a family member to sell a residential lot, withdraw a bank deposit, or represent someone at a private company’s stockholders’ meeting does not — those remain taxable at ₱10.00 regardless of how modest the transaction is.

How does an SPA’s DST interact with the underlying transaction’s own DST? #

An SPA’s ₱10.00 stamp tax is separate from, and in addition to, whatever DST the underlying transaction independently carries — the two are not alternatives, and paying one does not substitute for the other. If an attorney-in-fact uses an SPA to sign a deed of sale of real property on the principal’s behalf, the deed of sale itself still carries its own DST under NIRC Section 196 — ₱15.00 per ₱1,000 of the gross selling price or fair market value, whichever is higher — on top of the ₱10.00 DST on the SPA document itself. The same logic applies if the SPA is used to execute a loan agreement, a lease, or a share transfer: each document in the chain is assessed DST under its own applicable section.

Which BIR form do you use, and when is it due? #

A standalone SPA is not one of the one-time transactions BIR Form 2000-OT is reserved for — real property and unlisted-share transfers — so DST on an SPA is generally reported and paid using BIR Form 2000, the recurring Documentary Stamp Tax Declaration/Return, filed at the Revenue District Office (RDO) where the notarizing lawyer or the taxpayer is registered. Under NIRC Section 200 and Revenue Regulations No. 6-2001, the return and payment are due within five (5) days after the close of the month in which the SPA was made, signed, issued, accepted, or notarized. See Documentary Stamp Tax (DST): What It Is and When BIR Form 2000 Applies for the general filing mechanics this rule shares with every other DST-taxable document.

Worked example: an SPA used to sell a family residential lot #

A property owner based abroad executes a Special Power of Attorney authorizing her brother in the Philippines to sign the deed of sale and receive payment for a residential lot valued at ₱4,000,000. The SPA is notarized on June 10, 2026.

The ₱10.00 on the SPA and the ₱60,000 on the deed of sale are two separate DST line items, both potentially falling due in the same filing period if the deed is signed shortly after the SPA is notarized — a detail that is easy to overlook when a transaction bundles several notarized documents together for a single closing.

Frequently asked questions #

How much is the documentary stamp tax on a Special Power of Attorney (SPA)? #

Under NIRC Section 193, as amended by the TRAIN Law (Republic Act No. 10963), the documentary stamp tax on each power of attorney to perform any act is a flat ₱10.00, regardless of the value of the transaction the SPA authorizes.

Is every power of attorney subject to this DST? #

No. Section 193 exempts acts connected with the collection of claims due from or accruing to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, or the government of any province, city, or municipality. Every other power of attorney — including an SPA used for a private real estate sale, a bank transaction, or litigation — is taxable.

Which BIR form is used to pay DST on an SPA? #

DST on a Special Power of Attorney is generally paid using BIR Form 2000, the Documentary Stamp Tax Declaration/Return, since a standalone SPA is not one of the one-time transactions (real property or unlisted-share transfers) reserved for BIR Form 2000-OT.

When is the DST on an SPA due? #

Under NIRC Section 200 and Revenue Regulations No. 6-2001, DST is due within five (5) days after the close of the month in which the document was made, signed, issued, accepted, or transferred — so an SPA notarized in June 2026 has its DST due on or before July 5, 2026.

Does the ₱10.00 DST apply per SPA or per act authorized? #

The tax attaches to the document itself — each power of attorney instrument — not to each individual act it authorizes. A single SPA authorizing an agent to sell property, collect rent, and sign loan documents on the principal’s behalf is still one taxable document at ₱10.00, unless the underlying transaction it enables (such as the deed of sale itself) carries its own, separate DST.

Summary #

NIRC Section 193 imposes a flat ₱10.00 documentary stamp tax on each power of attorney, a rate the TRAIN Law doubled from the original ₱5.00. The only exemption covers powers of attorney connected with collecting claims due the national or a local government — every SPA used for a private sale, bank transaction, or civil matter remains taxable regardless of the underlying transaction’s size. That ₱10.00 sits on top of, not instead of, whatever DST the underlying document — a deed of sale, a loan agreement, a lease — separately carries. File it on BIR Form 2000 within five days after the close of the month of execution, alongside the other recurring DST transactions covered in Documentary Stamp Tax (DST): What It Is and When BIR Form 2000 Applies.