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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
**MANILA, Aug 8 (APD) ** – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported it has collected an initial P186 million in withholding taxes from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) and stands to receive another P170 million this month in tax payments from these business with foreign nationals as its employees.
This comes at the heels of a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Manila which said their citizens “are lured to work into and cheated to work illegally with only tourist visas.” The Chinese Embassy statement mentioned any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including on-line gambling, gambling overseas, opening casinos to attract Chinese citizens as primary customers, is illegal. (See separate story.)
Data from the BIR was the reference of Finance Asst. Secretary Dakila Napao who said out of the 48 notices sent to POGOs directing them to pay withholding taxes of their foreign workers, 22 have either replied or protested the tax assessments.
“The BIR, though, has already collected P186 million from the notices sent out and is set to collect another P170 million moving forward. This started last month and will be collected on August 10,” Napao said.
In a separate report to President Rodrigo Duterte and the members of his Cabinet, BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay said for the initial year of operations of POGO service providers in 2017, the BIR collected only P175 million in taxes.
In a statement released this afternoon by Finance Asst. Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II, it was learned Commissioner Dulay reported POGO service providers remitted over P579 million in taxes in 2018 and voluntarily paid P789 million in the first half of 2019.
To ensure POGOs the right amount of taxes to the government, a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) was issued requiring all foreign nationals and their employers or withholding agents to secure a Tax Identification Number (TIN) from the BIR as part of the documentary requirements in security employment permits and visas.
It was signed by the Departments of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Foreign Affairs (DFA), Finance (DOF), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) early last month.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue is working with the Department of Labor and Employment in developing an interagency database of foreign nationals working in the country to effectively monitor them and ensure that they pay the correct amount of taxes to the government.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
