FCDU Interest Tax Calculator

Why your dollar account is taxed differently

If you hold a US dollar savings account at a Philippine bank, the interest it earns does not follow the same rule as a peso deposit. It sits under the Foreign Currency Deposit Unit, or FCDU, system, a special arrangement that lets banks accept foreign-currency deposits, and the interest is taxed at a lower final rate to encourage Filipinos and overseas workers to keep their dollars in the local banking system. This calculator does one thing cleanly: you enter the peso equivalent of the gross interest your dollar account earned, and it shows the final tax withheld and the net interest you actually keep. It is built for OFWs, dollar savers, and anyone parking foreign currency who wants to know what lands in the account after tax.

A final tax, settled at the bank

The key word is final. Interest from an FCDU deposit is hit with a final withholding tax, which means the bank deducts it at source and remits it to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for you. You do not declare this interest again on your annual return, and you cannot be taxed on it twice. The rate this calculator applies to resident FCDU interest is 15 percent, noticeably below the 20 percent that applies to ordinary peso bank deposit interest. Treat those two rates as the tool's working assumptions and confirm the current figures with the BIR, since final-tax rates are set by statute and can be revised. The arithmetic is a flat percentage, so there are no brackets, no exemptions, and no thresholds to navigate here.

PHP 25,000 of dollar interest after tax

Say your dollar account earned interest worth PHP 25,000 in peso terms over the year, using the rate this calculator applies. The final tax is 15 percent of PHP 25,000, which is PHP 3,750. The bank withholds that and credits you the remaining PHP 21,250. Had the same PHP 25,000 come from a peso deposit at 20 percent, the tax would have been PHP 5,000 and you would have kept only PHP 20,000, so the FCDU treatment leaves you PHP 1,250 better off on this amount.

The chart splits the PHP 25,000 into what you keep and what the BIR takes under the FCDU rate, with the peso-deposit outcome shown beside it for contrast.

Residency, joint accounts, and a common reporting error

The 15 percent rate this tool uses applies to residents. The treatment can differ for nonresidents, and an FCDU account jointly held with a nonresident, such as an OFW abroad and a spouse at home, can fall under special rules, so check your status with the bank rather than assuming. The most frequent mistake is double-counting: because the tax is final and already withheld, taxpayers sometimes mistakenly add this interest back into their income tax return and pay again. You should not. The net figure this calculator shows is yours to keep with nothing further owed. One practical note, since the deposit and interest are in foreign currency, you enter the peso equivalent here, and the exact peso value depends on the exchange rate the bank applies when the interest is credited.

Is the interest on my dollar account taxed if I am an overseas Filipino worker?

This is one of the genuine perks for OFWs. Interest income of a nonresident from an FCDU deposit has historically been treated as exempt, which is one reason many overseas workers keep their savings in dollar accounts here. The exemption depends on your residency status being properly documented with the bank. Because the rules around resident versus nonresident treatment carry conditions, confirm your specific situation with your bank and the BIR.

Does this 15 percent apply to the foreign exchange gain when I convert dollars to pesos?

No. This calculator covers only the final tax on the interest the deposit earns. Any gain or loss you realise from the peso strengthening or weakening against the dollar when you convert is a separate matter and is not what this tool measures. Treat the currency movement on your principal independently from the tax on the interest.