RMC No. 90-2026: Only a CDA Certificate Qualifies a Cooperative for BIR Tax Exemption, Not BARMM's CSEA

RMC No. 90-2026, issued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue around August 13, 2026, clarifies that only a Certificate of Compliance issued by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) will be recognized when a cooperative applies for a BIR Certificate of Tax Exemption — a certificate from the Bangsamoro government’s Cooperatives and Social Enterprise Authority (CSEA) cannot substitute, even though CSEA is CDA’s recognized counterpart for cooperatives in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

What does RMC No. 90-2026 actually say? #

RMC No. 90-2026 addresses a narrow but consequential documentary question: which agency’s Certificate of Compliance the BIR will accept when a cooperative applies for a Certificate of Tax Exemption (CTE). The circular states that only a certificate issued by the CDA qualifies for this purpose — a certificate issued by CSEA, the Bangsamoro government’s cooperative regulator, does not, regardless of whether the underlying cooperative is validly registered and in good standing with CSEA.

The circular does not question CSEA’s legitimacy as a regulator. It expressly acknowledges that CSEA is “recognized by the CDA as its counterpart” for registering and supervising cooperatives in BARMM. The issue the BIR identifies is purely about tax law coverage, not about CSEA’s regulatory authority within the Bangsamoro region.

Why doesn’t a CSEA certificate qualify? #

The BIR’s reasoning turns on statutory coverage, not on CSEA’s competence as a regulator. RA No. 9520, the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, is the law that grants cooperatives their income tax and VAT exemptions on member transactions and, conditionally, on non-member transactions — see Are Cooperatives Exempt From BIR Income Tax and VAT? Requirements Under RA 9520 for how those exemptions work. RMC No. 90-2026 explains that existing Bangsamoro legislation establishing CSEA does not contain equivalent provisions granting the same tax exemptions and privileges that RA 9520 grants to CDA-registered cooperatives.

As summarized by BusinessWorld from the circular’s own language, the BIR stated:

“In the absence of an appropriate legislation expressly including the CSEA-registered cooperatives located in the BARMM within the coverage of the tax exemptions under RA No. 9520, said cooperatives cannot avail of the same tax incentives.”

In other words, RA 9520’s exemptions attach to cooperatives registered and certified through the CDA framework the law itself describes. Because no Bangsamoro law currently extends that same statutory coverage to CSEA-registered cooperatives, the BIR cannot treat a CSEA certificate as equivalent proof for a CTE application — doing so would effectively extend a national tax exemption beyond what RA 9520 authorizes.

What would have to change for CSEA-registered cooperatives to qualify? #

Nothing in RMC No. 90-2026 permanently bars CSEA-registered cooperatives from the RA 9520 exemptions — the circular describes the current legal gap, not a fixed policy stance. The BIR frames the limitation as conditional: it applies “in the absence of an appropriate legislation expressly including” CSEA-registered cooperatives within RA 9520’s coverage. That means the fix, if one comes, would need to originate in legislation — either an amendment extending RA 9520’s coverage to BARMM’s CSEA-registered cooperatives, or Bangsamoro legislation independently granting equivalent tax privileges that the BIR could then recognize.

Until such legislation exists, the practical rule for any cooperative operating in BARMM is unchanged from what RMC No. 90-2026 confirms: a CTE application needs a CDA-issued Certificate of Compliance, not a CSEA one.

Who is affected, and who isn’t #

Summary #

RMC No. 90-2026 confirms that the BIR will accept only a CDA-issued Certificate of Compliance as documentary support for a Certificate of Tax Exemption application, even though CSEA is CDA’s recognized counterpart for regulating cooperatives within BARMM. The gap is legislative, not administrative: Bangsamoro law establishing CSEA does not currently carry provisions equivalent to RA 9520’s tax exemptions, so CSEA-registered cooperatives cannot rely on those incentives unless a law is enacted expressly extending that coverage to them. For the underlying exemption rules this circular sits on top of, see Are Cooperatives Exempt From BIR Income Tax and VAT? Requirements Under RA 9520, and for another recent BIR circular affecting filing and certificate requirements, see RMC No. 89-2026: BIR Extends Tax Deadlines to August 17 for Habagat-Affected RDOs.