Traveling to another country involves the payment of Philippine travel tax. As of today, June 14, 2010, travel tax rates are pegged at 1,620 pesos per passenger. If you are traveling with children aged below 11 years, you may apply for a reduced travel tax certificate and pay only 810 pesos (a whopping 50% discount) per child. Applications involving travel tax exemptions and reduced rates may be coursed through two locations namely, Manila and Clark. All information will be provided below for your convenience.
How does one apply for Reduced Travel Tax in the Philippines for children aged below 11 years old?
Contrary to the bureaucratic red tape expected from government agency transactions, applying for reduced travel tax for children below 11 years of age from the DOT (Department of Tourism) or its ONE-STOP PROCESSING CENTER in Clark involves only a few steps and a few minutes. Enlisted below are a few preparation tips when planning to visit DOT.
1. Bring the original passport of your child/children along with photocopies.
2. Bring the travel itinerary receipt which was sent to your email address or the original printed air ticket with your child's/children's names on it. Make sure you also have photocopies with you for submission.
3. a. If you are applying in MANILA, the DOT building's address is along T. M. Kalaw Avenue near Taft Avenue, Manila. It is a yellowish building that is right across the Manila Doctor's Hospital. You are to go directly to Room 117, the Revenue or Travel Tax Department. Their office is open from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Mondays through Fridays. Telephone numbers are 523-3029 and 524-7734.
3. b. If you are applying in CLARK, the ONE-STOP processing center in Clark is located in Building No. 7256 (the building across Oriental Duty Free Shop) along C. M. Recto Highway, Clark Special Economic Zone. The Clark office is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Mondays through Fridays.
4. The queue is not long and the process will take only 15 minutes, maximum. The processing fee is 200 pesos per child. This amount corresponds to the processing fee for your child's Reduced Travel Tax Certificate, which entitles him or her to a 50% discount on Philippine Travel Tax. You will pay only 810 pesos plus the 200 pesos for a total of 1,010 pesos per child. The certificate is only good for one travel itinerary. Future travel plans require another application. The photo above shows the picture of the certificate on the bottom right portion, right beside the DOT logo.
5. Since you are already going out of your way to the Travel Tax Department, I suggest you bring extra cash to pay for the other passengers' Philippine travel tax (the adults'). That way, you go straight to the check-in queue on the day of your departure, without need to settle the Philippine Travel Tax.
I have asked staff of the Department of Tourism if this certificate may be applied in the airport. They confirmed that it can be done in the airport when you leave but when the queue is long, they will not bother to process your request since it takes a considerable amount of time. I do not like taking risks and so I chose to go to the DOT instead. The only regret I have is the fact that I forgot to bring extra cash to pay for the travel tax fees of my husband and I. That only means I have to be in the airport an extra hour earlier to allot time for this. Bummer! :(
UPDATE:
August 18, 2010. I just returned from a Hong Kong trip via Cebu Pacific. I asked the DFA staff in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 if applications for reduced travel tax for children can be applied on the spot. They said YES! This means that you no longer have to go to their T.M. Kalaw Avenue office for the reduced travel tax certificate. :)
UPDATE:
September 15, 2012. You can now apply for reduced travel tax for your children in the airport. When you pay your travel taxes, kindly indicate to the DFA staff that you would like to avail of the reduced travel tax certificate.
thanks for the info. why don't you add the re-tweet button on your blog. Its now part of blogger gadgets.
ReplyDeletePriya,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion! :D
Thanks so much for the info!
ReplyDeleteHello Giselle! I am glad you find the information posted useful :D
ReplyDeletewow.I needed this. my flight is on Friday. I was only informed by the call center agent from PAL. I was just advised when I asked how much I need to pay for my baby.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information
Hi Mia, you are most welcome :D I am glad to be of help :D
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteMy wife and kids will be immigrating to the U.S. within a couple of months. I read your your blog article and told her regarding the tax certificate for children. She said she called DOT and she was told by the person she spoke with that the tax credit certificate DOES NOT apply to kids if it's their first time travelling. Do you know if this is true?
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ReplyDeleteHello Traveling Nomad,
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know, reduced travel tax certificates are discounts offered to children aged 2 to 11 regardless of how many times they have traveled. However, when I applied, it was not the first time of my daughter to leave the country so I can never say for sure. However, it does not make sense why they would not offer it to first time travelers as it is a benefit/privilege.
However, since you mentioned immigration. Mentioning that may have other implications. I suggest that you visit DOT. It is worth it since you are applying for more than one child anyway. :) I would appreciate if you can let me know what happens so I can update information on the blog for other people's benefit. :D
Why you put up with this? Philippines is the only country where you have to pay tax to leave the country. And what do you get for it? NOTHING I wonder where the money goes??
ReplyDeleteI guess the only reason why every Filipino citizen puts up with this is because it is a legal requirement for travel. Refusal to pay removes your entitlement to travel outside of the country, except for those who are overseas Filipino workers. :)
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the Philippines is not the only country that imposes travel taxes.
i believe all countries collect travel tax, its just that most, if not all of them collect this travel tax through the airline. However, in the Philippines, majority of the airlines especially the budget airlines has requested the government for this to be collected separately so as to not to give the impression to the travelling public that the price of the ticket they purchased is expensive.
DeleteWhat i meant was why noone stands up to this? There is so much bureaucracy, its terrible. its like the govenment dont care about the people. In most countries the people demands to be put in priority before the state.
ReplyDeleteCindy, i agree that it is not the only country which imposes travel tax. And what can you do? If you deny they will not let you travel.
But when you pay a travel in or out of Philippines they will add taxes, when you are in the airport you will have to pay terminal fees and when you leave the country you will have to pay travel tax.
I have travelled a lot. This is the only country where this is happening (to my knowledge).
The communist countries also used to do this to control their citizens. Its a shame that a democracy like Phils want to do the same. Levy envytax.
The government is there for the people, not the other way around.
While I do agree that the Filipino government is plagued with bureaucracy, I do not think that the travel tax is in any way related to it.
ReplyDeleteThe more accurate assertion would be that taxes in general, whether business-related or otherwise, are linked to corruption.
And yes, I do have to agree with you that the government has become one that victimizes its citizens rather than uplift it. Although I did NOT vote for President Noynoy Aquino, I remain hopeful that God will use him to make this country a better one.
Thank you for your thoughts. I do appreciate them. :)
do you have any idea what time they open in the morning as for the airport office? our flight leaves at 5am and i am not from manila so more or less it would be a connecting flight from the province
ReplyDeleteHello Frances,
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the late reply. You can email me at heapfulofhelp@gmail.com for urgent concerns. The airport is open 24 hours a day :D
I just applied a Phil passport for my 3-yr old daughter. It will be released on Nov 24. We plan to travel by 1st week of December 2011. I have a deadline with regards to my booking. I would like to avail of this reduced tax. What can I do about this?
ReplyDeleteCan we get travel tax exemption for my 1yr old baby on the spot at the Davao International Airport?
ReplyDeletetnx d helpful info;)
ReplyDeleteHow about ung family ng OFW ..if theyre tavelling with their one parent are they all also tax excempted?
ReplyDeleteI'm from Imus Cavite and applying for a reduced travel tax for 1 minor is not worth it!you will go to DOT Manila at Kalaw Ave. paid P200 plus the transportation fare what discount can you get from that procedure and some airlines include travel tax in their airfares! You are not helping Filipinos!
ReplyDeletewhy do kids need travel tax when they don't even work and pay taxes?rubbish!
ReplyDeletevery informative! I purchased an online cebu pacific ticket for my family of 6 going to HK. I thought I wouldn't be worrying paying for the travel tax as this is already included in the air ticket. Thanks to the hi-tech system nwadays. I didn't turned out to be so ignorant, at least I became aware of all these hidden charges of cebu pacific promo fares. I think, it is better to pay the travel tax ahead of time than paying it at the airport. This is to save time and put you comfortable during the flight date.
ReplyDeleteIf you would read the update above, the DFA inside the airports can already process this for you. This saves you time and transportation expenses :D
ReplyDeleteHi! what if my tickets are already paid along with the travel tax? and then i get an exemption from payment of travel tax? can i refund this?
ReplyDeleteIf the travel taxes have been paid already when you purchased your ticket, then you can NO LONGER get a refund. It would be wise to remember to inform the ticket officer of your desire to apply for the discounted rate for minors before your payment. Thanks and I hope this helps though it is late. :) God bless you!
DeleteThis is very helpful. Thanks a lot.
ReplyDelete