Documents and papers not subject to stamp tax.
Section 248
SEC. 248. Documents and papers not subject to stamp tax.—The following instruments, documents, and papers shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax: (1) Bonds, debentures, and certificates of indebtedness issued by the Government of the Republic of the Philip pines, or the government of any province; city, or muni cipality. (2) Checks, drafts, warrants, and bills of exchange is sued in payment of any debt, obligation, or liability or in fulfillment of any contract of the Government of the Re public of the Philippines or the government of any prov ince, city, or municipality; and similar instruments issued in payment of pensions, gratuities, or compensation of veterans, their widows, heirs or dependants. (3) Policies of insurance or annuities made or granted by a fraternal or beneficiary society, order, association, or cooperative company, operated on the lodge system or local cooperation plan and organized and conducted solely by the members thereof for the exclusive benefit of its members and not for profit. (4) Certificates of oaths administered to any Govern ment official in his official capacity or of acknowledgment by any Government official in the performance of his official duties, written appearances in any court by any Government official, in his official capacity; certificates of the administration of oaths to any person as to the authenticity of any paper required to be filed in court by any person or party thereto, whether the proceedings be civil or criminal; papers and documents filed in courts by or for the national, provincial, city, or municipal gov ernments, affidavits of poor persons for the purpose of proving poverty; statements and other compulsory in formation required of persons or corporations by the rules and regulations of the national, provincial, city, or mu nicipal governments exclusively for statistical purposes and which are wholly for the use of the bureau or office in which they are filed, and not at the instance or for the use or benefit of the person filing them; certified copies and other certificates placed upon documents, instruments, and papers for the national, provincial, city or municipal governments, made at the instance and for the sole use of some other branch of the national, provincial, city or municipal governments; and certificates of the assessed value of lands, not exceeding two hundred pesos in value assessed, furnished by provincial, city, or municipal treasurer to applicants for registration of title to land. When any bond, note, or other obligation is secured by a mortgage, pledge, deed of trust, or by the assignment or transfer of any documentary security, one tax only shall be collected upon these papers, the tax to be at the highest rate imposed on the mortgage, bond, note, obligation, or other documents, as the case may be.