RMC No. 79-2026 Digest

RMC No. 79-2026 (July 20, 2026) clarifies RR No. 24-2025 on the creditable withholding tax imposed on Top Withholding Agents. The 1/2% CWT rate applies when the supplier is a manufacturer or a direct importer (either one suffices) of the covered goods and the sale is wholesale in character; this holds even if the buyer uses the goods itself, because the seller's status and regular course of business control. Retail transactions by such sellers are instead subject to the 1% CWT rate under Section 2.57.2(1) of RR No. 2-98, as amended. The circular also lists documents proving a supplier's nature of business, covers CKD motor vehicles and motorcycles, interprets the CBU/SKD manufacturing phrase as referring to output rather than inputs, defines pharmaceutical products by reference to FDA regulation, and treats milk as a pharmaceutical product only if registered with the FDA as a drug or therapeutic preparation.