How to Report Foreign Currency Sales and Purchases in Your RELIEF SLSP DAT File

A foreign currency sale or purchase must be converted into Philippine peso using the published spot exchange rate on the actual date of the transaction before it goes into your RELIEF SLSP DAT file — not a monthly average, and not a rate you pick at your convenience. This conversion rule comes from Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 12-2024, and getting it wrong is a common cause of RELIEF SLSP figures that don’t tie out to your VAT return or financial statements.

This guide covers which rate source to use, why monthly averages are disallowed, and a worked example for a dollar-denominated export sale.

The required exchange rate source under RMC No. 12-2024 #

RMC No. 12-2024 requires foreign currency transactions to be converted to Philippine peso using the spot rate of exchange on the date of the transaction, sourced from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) for US dollar transactions and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for other foreign currencies. A transaction denominated in a currency other than the US dollar is converted directly using the applicable BSP rate for that currency — not first converted to US dollars and then to peso, a two-step method the circular superseded.

For RELIEF SLSP purposes specifically, this matters because the DAT file reports sales and purchases in peso, and the BIR can flag a mismatch between the peso figures in your RELIEF SLSP and the peso figures in your VAT return or audited financial statements if the underlying conversion methodology differs — the same kind of discrepancy already covered generally in Why BIR RELIEF SLSP Mismatches With Your Financial Statements Trigger a Letter Notice.

Why a monthly average rate is not allowed #

The BIR does not permit using a monthly average exchange rate to convert foreign currency-denominated sales or purchases for tax reporting, including RELIEF SLSP, even though monthly averages are common in management accounting for convenience. Each transaction must be converted individually, using the spot rate applicable to its own transaction date. If a transaction falls on a weekend, holiday, or any date without a published rate, use the latest closing spot rate available on the business day immediately preceding the transaction date.

Taxpayers should also be prepared to substantiate the exchange rate used during a BIR audit; if a rate other than the BAP or BSP published rate is used without support, the BIR may disregard it and recompute the peso amount using the required source instead — which can change your reported sales or purchases figure and the corresponding VAT.

“Monthly average exchange rates are not permitted.”

This is RMC No. 12-2024’s core conversion rule, as reported by tax practitioner summaries of the circular; confirm the full text and any subsequent amendments on the BIR site before relying on it for a specific filing.

Worked example: a dollar-denominated export sale #

A VAT-registered exporter sells goods to a foreign buyer for US$10,000, invoiced and paid in US dollars, with the sale recognized on March 15. The BAP-published spot rate for that date is ₱56.20 to US$1.

• Foreign currency amount: US$10,000
• Applicable BAP spot rate (March 15): ₱56.20
• Peso amount to report in RELIEF SLSP: ₱562,000

If the exporter instead used a monthly average rate of, say, ₱56.50 for convenience, the RELIEF SLSP entry would show ₱565,000 — a ₱3,000 discrepancy that compounds across every foreign currency transaction in the period and can trigger reconciliation questions when the BIR cross-checks RELIEF SLSP data against the VAT return.

Frequently asked questions #

What exchange rate do I use to report a dollar sale in my RELIEF SLSP DAT file? #

Convert the foreign currency amount to Philippine peso using the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) published rate for US dollar transactions, or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) rate for other foreign currencies, on the actual date of the transaction, per Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 12-2024.

Can I use a monthly average exchange rate to simplify converting foreign currency sales for RELIEF SLSP? #

No. RMC No. 12-2024 does not permit using monthly average exchange rates to convert foreign currency-denominated transactions for BIR reporting purposes, including RELIEF SLSP. Each transaction must be converted using the applicable spot rate on its own transaction date.

What rate applies if a foreign currency sale happens on a weekend or holiday when no rate is published? #

Use the latest closing spot rate available on the business day immediately before the transaction date, since no BAP or BSP rate is published for non-business days.

Summary #

RMC No. 12-2024 requires transaction-date spot rates, not monthly averages, when converting foreign currency sales and purchases for RELIEF SLSP and other BIR reporting. Exporters and importers with regular foreign currency transactions should build this per-transaction conversion into their bookkeeping before generating their RELIEF SLSP DAT file, to avoid figures that don’t reconcile with the VAT return. For related content, see What Is RELIEF SLSP? and How to Convert Excel to BIR DAT File for RELIEF SLSP.