BIR goes after own employee, wife for P6.4-B tax fraud
- TAX & BUSINESS-RELATED NEWS [MAY 8-15]
- BIR CLARIFIES THE ENTITLEMENT OF ECOZONE DEVELOPERS & OPERATORS TO THE VAT ZERO RATING ON LOCAL PURCHASES OF GOODS & SERVICES THAT ARE DIRECTLY & EXCLUSIVELY USED IN THE REGISTERED PROJECT OR ACTIVITY
- BIR CLARIFIES THE OPTIONAL FILING & PAYMENT OF MONTHLY VAT RETURNS
- BIR TAX ADVISORY ON THE FILING OF THE QUARTERLY INCOME TAX RETURNS USING eBIRForms
- BIR AMENDS RULES IN AVAILING INCOME TAX EXEMPTION OF FOREIGN-SOURCED DIVIDENDS RECEIVED BY A DOMESTIC CORPORATION
1. TAX & BUSINESS-RELATED NEWS [MAY 8-15]
- House OKs estate tax amnesty bill on final reading, urges Senate to do the same
- House passes bill redefining illegal recruitment syndicates on final reading
- Grab Philippines fined P9-M over delayed refunds
- Gov’t employees to get midyear bonus starting May 15 —DBM
- Marcos: Global firm to invest in PH’s bid to regain footing in shipbuilding
- Phinma raises stake in education, hotels and real estate in P 2.8-B deal
- New eats: Tagaytay fave Breakfast at Antonio’s opens in QC
- SM group to build new school buildings in Laguna, Batangas
- PH to incentivize firms willing to sign up for war vs plastics
- BIR: Billions in VAT lost to ‘ghost receipts’
- BIR goes after own employee, wife for P6.4-B tax fraud
- BIR beats target, rakes in P850 billion
- BIR amends tax exemption rules for foreign dividend recipients
- Ejercito pushes for Senate bill on automatic income classification for LGUs
- Amid rise of AI, BPOs need Filipinos’ empathy —IBPAP
- Bill imposing stiffer penalties for tax fraud clears House panel hurdle
- House panel approves bill on anti-tax racketeering
- Power generated by conventionally-fueled plants ruled ineligible for income tax holiday
- BIR urged to reconsider plans to impose 1% withholding tax on online sellers
- E-motorcycles inclusion in import tax breaks to be considered, says NEDA chief
2. BIR CLARIFIES THE ENTITLEMENT OF ECOZONE DEVELOPERS & OPERATORS TO THE VAT ZERO RATING ON LOCAL PURCHASES OF GOODS & SERVICES THAT ARE DIRECTLY & EXCLUSIVELY USED IN THE REGISTERED PROJECT OR ACTIVITY
Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 53-2023, issued on May 11, 2023, circularizes the Board of Investments (BOI) Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2022-003, which amended the Specific Guidelines of Activities in Support of Exporters under the 2020 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), also known as the transitional Strategic Investment Priority Plan (SIPP).
Highlights of the amendments include:
a. Development and operation of economic zones; and industrial parks and building for exporters, as “Activities in Support of Exporters” shall also be entitled to the Value-Added Tax (VAT) incentives under the CREATE Act.
b. It shall apply to all projects qualified under the CREATE Act.
c. An ecozone developer or operator who is not qualified will be classified as a Domestic Market Enterprise (DME) and shall not be entitled to the VAT incentives under the CREATE Act.
3. BIR CLARIFIES THE OPTIONAL FILING & PAYMENT OF MONTHLY VAT RETURNS
Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 52-2023, issued on May 10, 2023, clarifies the optional filing and payment of monthly Value-Added Tax (VAT) returns (BIR Form 2550M) for VAT-registered persons. Aligned with the Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 and “Pay-As-You-File” System of Taxation, VAT-registered persons may continue to file and pay their VAT liabilities monthly using BIR Form 2550M. No penalties shall be imposed if taxpayer opts to switch from filing the VAT returns and paying tax on a monthly to quarterly basis, or vice versa, for as long as the filing and payment of quarterly VAT returns are filed within the period provided under the Tax Code, which is within 25 days following the close of each taxable quarter. However, no prescribed deadline shall be imposed on the filing of monthly VAT returns.
4. BIR TAX ADVISORY ON THE FILING OF THE QUARTERLY INCOME TAX RETURNS USING eBIRForms
In a Tax Advisory issued on May 4, 2023, the BIR has advised individual taxpayers who are eFPS users to file their Quarterly Income Tax Returns (ITR) for the first quarter of 2023 using the Offline eBIRForms Package v7.9.4 while the Income Tax Rates of BIR Form 1701Q are being modified in the eFPS. Furthermore, payment of taxes shall be made through online or manual payment.
5. BIR AMENDS RULES IN AVAILING INCOME TAX EXEMPTION OF FOREIGN-SOURCED DIVIDENDS RECEIVED BY A DOMESTIC CORPORATION
Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 5-2023, issued on May 5, 2023, amends RR No. 5-2021 on the requirements for availing Income Tax Exemption of foreign-sourced dividends received by a domestic corporation. To avail of the income tax exemption, the Domestic Corporation shall only need to attach the prescribed “Sworn Statement” to the Annual Income Tax Returns (AITR) pertaining to the taxable year in which the foreign-sourced dividends were received and attach to the AITR pertaining to the year immediately following the year of receipt of the foreign-sourced dividends the prescribed “Sworn Declaration.” In case of partial or non-utilization of the foreign-sourced dividends, the domestic corporation shall pay the corresponding Income Tax due thereon, inclusive of surcharge, interest, and penalties, by amending the AITR filed for the particular period. If amendment is already prohibited due to existence of audit, the Income Tax shall be paid using payment form (BIR Form 0605).
It may be recalled that under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprise (CREATE) Law, foreign-sourced dividends received by domestic corporations are generally subject to income tax, except when dividends will be reinvested in the business operations of the domestic corporation subject to the compliance of RR No. 5-2021.
House OKs estate tax amnesty bill on final reading, urges Senate to do the same [ABS-CBN News, May 15, 2023]
Voting 259-0, the House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading House Bill 7909, which seeks to extend the coverage and period of availment of the Estate Tax Amnesty by 2 more years or until 2025.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/15/23/house-oks-estate-tax-amnesty-bill-on-final-reading
House passes bill redefining illegal recruitment syndicates on final reading [The Philippine Star, May 15, 2023]
Under House Bill 7718, which was unanimously approved with 260 favorable votes Monday, the country’s existing laws will be tweaked to specify that the offense of illegal recruitment by a syndicate can now be done by two individuals who do not possess licenses or authority.
Grab Philippines fined P9-M over delayed refunds [The Philippine Star, May 15, 2023]
A PCC statement on Monday said this new fine will be added to the P63.7 million in penalties stockpiled over the years since Grab was flagged by antitrust regulators when the company acquired Uber’s local operations back in 2018.
Gov’t employees to get midyear bonus starting May 15 —DBM [GMA News Online, May 14, 2023]
In a statement, DBM said that the midyear bonus is equivalent to one-month basic pay as of May 15, and shall be given to entitled civil servants who have rendered at least a total or aggregate of four months of service from July 1, 2022 to May 15, 2023.
Marcos: Global firm to invest in PH’s bid to regain footing in shipbuilding [Manila Bulletin, May 14, 2023]
Cerberus acquired Subic shipyard in 2022 and has invested US$40 million to make the shipyard operational again. Currently, the Philippine Navy has a naval operating base in Subic with 800 personnel.
Phinma raises stake in education, hotels and real estate in P 2.8-B deal [Inquirer Mobile, May 13, 2023]
Phinma’s board approved the acquisition of parent firm Phinma Inc.’s shares in Phinma Education Holdings, Phinma Property Holdings, Phinma Hospitality, Phinma Microtel Hotels and ABCIC Property Holdings for P2.35 billion, a stock exchange filing on Friday showed.
New eats: Tagaytay fave Breakfast at Antonio’s opens in QC [ABS-CBN News, May 13, 2023]
The Tagaytay favorite Breakfast at Antonio’s on Friday finally opened its doors in the heart of the metro, with the launch of its newest branch at Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/05/13/23/new-eats-tagaytay-fave-breakfast-at-antonios-opens-in-qc
SM group to build new school buildings in Laguna, Batangas [The Philippine Star, May 12, 2023]
Upon the completion of the joint initiative, two two-story, four-classroom school buildings will be donated to the Laguna Resettlement Community School in San Pedro City, Laguna and the San Antonio Elementary School in Sto. Tomas City, Batangas.
PH to incentivize firms willing to sign up for war vs plastics [Inquirer Mobile, May 12, 2023]
“We’ll target it (the promulgation) probably within or after one year because everything is still being set up,” Environment Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh told the Inquirer. She was referring to the incentive plan in support of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law.
BIR: Billions in VAT lost to ‘ghost receipts’ [The Philippine Star, May 11, 2023]
Last month, Lumagui formed the Run After Fake Transactions to go after those using fake receipts to evade paying taxes.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/05/11/2265421/bir-billions-vat-lost-ghost-receipts
BIR goes after own employee, wife for P6.4-B tax fraud [ABS-CBN News, May 11, 2023]
The Bureau of Internal Revenue is going after its own employee and his wife for allegedly selling and installing software that would suppress the amount of sales in point-of-sales machines to keep the taxes of their customers down.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/11/23/bir-goes-after-own-employee-wife-for-p64-b-tax-fraud
BIR beats target, rakes in P850 billion [The Philippine Star, May 11, 2023]
Initial data obtained by The STAR showed that collections from January to April reached P846.7 billion, up 14 percent from the P742.37 billion generated in the same period last year.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2023/05/11/2265359/bir-beats-target-rakes-p850-billion
BIR amends tax exemption rules for foreign dividend recipients [BusinessWorld, May 10, 2023]
In Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 5-2023, which amends RR No. 5-2021, the BIR said the RR deals with documents domestic corporations need to submit to be exempt.
Ejercito pushes for Senate bill on automatic income classification for LGUs [Manila Bulletin, May 10, 2023]
The bill primarily seeks to institutionalize the automatic classification of the LGUs where provinces, cities and municipalites shall be classified into six income classes that reflect their true financial capability and position.
Amid rise of AI, BPOs need Filipinos’ empathy —IBPAP [GMA News Online, May 9, 2023]
While artificial intelligence (AIs) in the workplace is on the rise, an association for the information technology and business process management industry said Filipinos will still be needed for jobs in the sector because of their skills.
Bill imposing stiffer penalties for tax fraud clears House panel hurdle [The Philippine Star, May 9, 2023]
The House ways and means committee approved on Tuesday a measure imposing graver penalties on tax fraud, which includes selling counterfeit receipts to reduce income tax and VAT liabilities under the veil of fictitious transactions.
House panel approves bill on anti-tax racketeering [Philippine News Agency, May 9, 2023]
Tax racketeering involves engaging in any coordinated scheme or operation to evade or defeat any tax imposed under the tax code through the fraudulent use of receipts, returns and other records, with a minimum amount of PHP10 million.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1201097
Power generated by conventionally-fueled plants ruled ineligible for income tax holiday [BusinessWorld, May 9, 2023]
In Memorandum Circular No. 2023-003 series of 2023 dated April 20 and published in a newspaper on May 6, the BoI said “revenue from sales of electricity sourced by power generation projects utilizing conventional fuels, waste heat, and other wastes from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) shall not be entitled to income tax holiday.”
BIR urged to reconsider plans to impose 1% withholding tax on online sellers [GMA New Online, May 8, 2023]
The United Filipino Consumers and Commuters (UFCC) urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to reconsider its plan to impose a creditable withholding tax of 1% on online sellers.
E-motorcycles inclusion in import tax breaks to be considered, says NEDA chief [The Philippine Star, May 8, 2023]
Under the EO12, various EVs and their components received lower tariff rates from the previous 5% to 30% to now 0% import duty, with the exception of e-motorcycles as they are excluded from the tariff suspension and are still subject to 30% import duty.
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