How to Claim a BIR Excise Tax Refund on Petroleum Products Under RMO No. 38-2025

Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 38-2025 consolidates the documentary requirements, filing venue, and timelines for a BIR excise tax refund on petroleum products sold under Section 135 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) — the exemption for fuel sold to international carriers, treaty-covered entities, or entities exempt by law from direct and indirect taxes. A claimant files BIR Form No. 1914 within two years of paying the tax, at the RDO or Large Taxpayers office with jurisdiction over its registration.

What does RMO No. 38-2025 actually change? #

RMO No. 38-2025, issued by the BIR in September 2025, consolidates and updates the documentary requirements, procedures, and timelines for processing excise tax refund claims on petroleum products, and supersedes the previous guidelines under RMO No. 16-2024. The order lines up refund processing with more recent amendments — the TRAIN Law’s excise tax structure, the Ease of Paying Taxes (EOPT) Act’s changes to refund procedure, and the CREATE Act’s broader registration and compliance updates — so a claimant filing today follows a single, current set of rules rather than piecing together which parts of the older RMO still apply.

RMO No. 38-2025 applies prospectively: it governs excise tax refund claims on petroleum products filed on or after April 1, 2025, while claims filed before that date continue to be evaluated under RMO No. 16-2024’s older procedure. A business with a refund claim already in the pipeline should confirm which RMO actually governs its specific application rather than assume the newest rules automatically apply.

Who is entitled to claim the refund? #

Under NIRC Section 135, an importer, local manufacturer, or supplier of petroleum products that has paid excise tax on those products may apply for a refund once the products are sold to a buyer that qualifies for one of three statutory exemption categories — the tax is refundable to the party that paid it, not automatically to the buyer. Section 135 itself identifies who the exempt sale must run to:

“SEC. 135. Petroleum Products Sold to International Carriers and Exempt Entities or Agencies. – Petroleum products sold to the following are exempt from excise tax: (a) International carriers of Philippine or foreign registry on their use or consumption outside the Philippines… (b) Exempt entities or agencies covered by tax treaties, conventions and other international agreements for their use or consumption… [and] (c) Entities that are by law exempt from direct and indirect taxes.”

As the CTA’s ruling in the Shell Pilipinas Jet A-1 fuel refund case confirmed for the international-carrier category specifically, the party entitled to claim the refund is generally the importer or manufacturer that bore the excise tax cost upstream — not the exempt buyer, who typically never sees excise tax as a separate line item because the supplier already folded it into the sale price. See Who Can Claim the Section 135 Excise Tax Exemption: Lessons From the Shell Pilipinas Jet A-1 Refund Case for how the CTA reasoned through that exact dispute in a case decided in 2026.

The refund process at a glance #

A petroleum excise tax refund claim under RMO No. 38-2025 runs through three fixed checkpoints: the form and supporting documents a claimant files, where it files them, and the deadlines that apply on both the claimant’s and the BIR’s side. The table below summarizes what applies once a claimant has an exempt sale to document.

A claimant should treat “complete documents” as the operative trigger for the 90-day clock — an incomplete initial submission does not start the processing period, so gathering every required attachment (the excise tax return and proof of payment, the sales documentation tying the specific volume to a qualifying buyer, and proof of that buyer’s exempt status) before filing avoids an avoidable delay.

A worked example: a fuel supplier refunding tax on jet fuel #

Consider “Palawan Fuel Distributors, Inc.,” a hypothetical local supplier that imports Jet A-1 aviation fuel and pays excise tax on the full volume at the point of importation, then later sells part of that volume to a foreign-registered international airline flying out of a Philippine airport. Palawan Fuel imports 1,000,000 liters in June 2026 and pays excise tax on the entire shipment at that time. Over the following two months, it sells and delivers 400,000 liters to the international airline for use on its outbound international flights, while the remaining 600,000 liters go to domestic buyers.

Because the 400,000 liters sold to the airline qualify under NIRC Section 135(a) — sold to an international carrier for use or consumption outside the Philippines — Palawan Fuel, as the party that paid the excise tax on importation, may file a BIR Form 1914 claim for a refund of the tax attributable to that portion. It has until the corresponding 2026 payment date plus two years to file, and it files with the RDO or Large Taxpayers office where it is registered, attaching the airline’s delivery records and proof of the airline’s international-carrier status alongside its excise tax return and proof of payment. The 600,000 liters sold domestically stay taxed — there is no exempt buyer on that portion, so no refund applies to it.

FAQs #

What is RMO No. 38-2025? #

RMO No. 38-2025 is a Revenue Memorandum Order the BIR issued in September 2025 that consolidates and updates the documentary requirements, procedures, and timelines for processing excise tax refund claims on petroleum products under NIRC Section 135, replacing the prior guidelines in RMO No. 16-2024.

Which form do I use to claim an excise tax refund on petroleum products? #

A claimant files BIR Form No. 1914, Application for Tax Credits/Refunds, supported by the excise tax return and proof of payment for the products in question, along with the other documents RMO No. 38-2025 requires to substantiate the exempt sale.

How long do I have to file an excise tax refund claim? #

A claim for refund or tax credit of excise tax on petroleum products must be filed within two years from the date the excise tax was paid — miss that window and the claim is time-barred regardless of how strong the underlying exemption is.

Where do I file a petroleum excise tax refund claim? #

The claim is filed with the Revenue District Office (RDO), the Large Taxpayers Audit Division (LTAD), or the Large Taxpayers District Office (LTDO) that has jurisdiction over the claimant, depending on where the taxpayer is registered or how the BIR classifies it.

Does RMO No. 38-2025 apply to claims I already filed? #

RMO No. 38-2025 applies prospectively to excise tax refund claims on petroleum products filed on or after April 1, 2025; claims filed before that date continue to be governed by the earlier RMO No. 16-2024 guidelines.

Summary #

RMO No. 38-2025 consolidates how a BIR excise tax refund claim on petroleum products under NIRC Section 135 gets filed and processed: BIR Form 1914, filed within two years of the tax payment, at the RDO or Large Taxpayers office with jurisdiction over the claimant, with a 90-day BIR processing window once documents are complete. It applies to claims filed on or after April 1, 2025, and replaces the older RMO No. 16-2024 framework. For the underlying eligibility question the CTA has already litigated once — who, exactly, may invoke the Section 135 exemption in the first place — see Who Can Claim the Section 135 Excise Tax Exemption; for the excise tax return a petroleum manufacturer or importer files before any refund question even arises, see What Is BIR Form 2200-P? Excise Tax Return for Petroleum Products Explained.

Sources #

Primary source

• Bureau of Internal Revenue — 2025 Revenue Memorandum Orders index (citation of record for RMO No. 38-2025, issued September 8, 2025); the National Internal Revenue Code, Section 135, for the underlying exemption categories quoted above.

Secondary sources

• Grant Thornton Philippines — BIR Updates Excise Tax Refund Guidelines for Petroleum Products
• SunStar Cebu — Tax Notes: BIR updates excise tax refund guidelines for petroleum products
• The Manila Times — Exemption from Excise Tax of Petroleum Products and Refund Mechanism
• Reyes Tacandong & Co. — BIR Issuances: RMO No. 38-2025