SEC to slap higher penalties on companies for delinquent reports
Other Relevant Tax Updates:
- TAX & BUSINESS-RELATED NEWS [SEPTEMBER 6-11]
- SEC NOW INCLUDES CROWDFUNDING PORTALS AS AUTHORIZED REGISTRARS
- BIR PRESCRIBES THE POLICIES & GUIDELINES IN THE PROCESSING OF REQUEST FOR CORPORATE INFORMATION WITH THE SEC
- SUPREME COURT CASE ON BIR ASSESSMENT AGAINST MAKATI CITY
- COURT OF TAX APPEALS CASES
- TAX & BUSINESS-RELATED NEWS [SEPTEMBER 6-11]
- SEC to slap higher penalties on companies for delinquent reports
- Pwedeng bumale? BPI launching ‘salary on demand’
- Diokno admits economic team not consulted on rice price cap
- BSP chief bats for simpler tax on stocks, bonds
- Pag-IBIG posts record high membership, voluntary savings in Jan-Aug: CEO
- Philippine, Australia ‘work, holiday’ visa open to ages 18-31
- ADB warns vs risks from high interest rates
- Palace declares provincial town holidays
- Finance exec expected termination after FB post
- Reduction of royalty rate will further hurt mining communities — Caritas Philippines
- Australia to introduce new visa schemes, double scholarships for Filipinos
- DOF exec who resigned ‘clearly set on maligning’ Marcos Jr’s admin: Palace
- BPI, Robinsons Bank revise merger plan
- Calabarzon workers to get P35-P50 minimum wage hike —DOLE
- COA stops developer from claiming P755M from Calamba
- In the process of liquidation: Felipe Gozon shuts down 3 GMA subsidiaries
- House bill seeks 5-day ‘compassionate leave’ for workers
- Lawmaker asks Philhealth to suspend collection of premiums from members
- DITO raises P2.2 B from Cayman Islands firm
- Thrift banks’ assets hit P 943B despite tech challenges
- PH, South Korea signed free trade agreement, says Marcos
- Metro Pacific, Sumitomo join forces to take over MRT 3
- GSIS raises Metro Pacific stake, rocking the boat ahead of delisting
- ‘Diskaril na ba?’: Makati subway project to be affected by court ruling on Taguig
- DOE warned: Filipinos to pay for expensive LNG
- SEC NOW INCLUDES CROWDFUNDING PORTALS AS AUTHORIZED REGISTRARS
SEC Memorandum Circular No. 12, Series of 2023, dated September 6, 2023, amends Section 39.1.4.1 of the Implementing Rules and Regulation of the Securities Regulation Code adding Section 29.1.4.1.7. Specifically, funding portals registered under the SEC Crowdfunding Rules and granted with secondary licenses are now considered authorized registrars of qualified institutional and individual buyers.
- BIR PRESCRIBES THE POLICIES & GUIDELINES IN THE PROCESSING OF REQUEST FOR CORPORATE INFORMATION WITH THE SEC
Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 26-2023, issued on July 19, 2023, prescribes the policies, guidelines, and procedures in the processing of requests for corporate information, including beneficial ownership information, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) allows the BIR to obtain information on corporations and other registered/licensed entities, including beneficial ownership information. Highlights include what information that may be requested from the SEC, who from the BIR can request information, and how to manage the information received from the SEC.
- SUPREME COURT CASE ON BIR ASSESSMENT AGAINST MAKATI CITY
[FDDA WILL BECOME FINAL WHEN NO APPEAL TO THE CIR OR TO THE CTA WILL BE FILED] [SOLUTIO INDEBITI APPLIES WHEN THE PAYMENT WAS MADE THROUGH MISTAKE]
Petitioner City of Makati filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari arguing that the Final Decision on Disputed Assessment (FDDA) dated October 16, 2003 issued by the Respondent Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) is void and cannot be considered final assessment, and the Php 200 Million paid by the Petitioner shall be returned by the BIR since the compromise agreement was subsequently disapproved. In ruling, the Court discussed that FDDA shall state the facts and law on which it is based to provide the taxpayer the opportunity to file an intelligent appeal before the CIR. Merely notifying the taxpayer of its liabilities without elaborating on its details is insufficient. Here, a perusal of the said FDDA reveals substantial compliance with the due process requirement. The FDDA clearly contains the facts, applicable law, rules, and regulation on which the tax deficiency imposed upon the Petitioner were based. It cannot be said that the City of Makati was merely notified of the assessment. Moreover, the said FDDA was received by the Petitioner on October 20, 2003. Consequently, the appeal to the CIR or the CTA may be filed until November 19, 2003. However, instead of filing a request for reconsideration before the CIR or an appeal before the CTA, on October 24, 2003, the Petitioner instead filed with the BIR Regional Director a request for re-computation and submitted supporting documents. Until November 19, 2003, no appeal was filed before the CTA; neither was there any request for reconsideration before the CIR. Thus, the CIR correctly found that the assessments have become final, executory, demandable, and unappealable. As to the compromise agreement, the Court held that solution indebiti is not applicable between the Petitioner and the Respondent. The finality of the FDDA rendered the assessments demandable, enforceable, and collectible. Thus, the payment of Php 200 Million was not made through mistake; it is rightly considered as a partial settlement of the tax obligation of the Petitioner. Consequently, the Petition was DENIED. [CITY OF MAKATI VS. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, G.R. NO. 200395, MARCH 15, 2023, UPLOADED JULY 18, 2023]
- COURT OF TAX APPEALS CASES
[TO BE ENTITLED TO A REFUND OR CREDIT OF ERRONEOUSLY OR ILLEGALLY COLLECTED TAX, THE CLAIM FOR REFUND OR CREDIT MUST BE FILED WITHIN TWO (2) YEARS FROM THE DATE OF PAYMENT OF TAX OR PENALTY, REGARDLESS OF ANY SUPERVENING CAUSE THAT MAY ARISE AFTER PAYMENT] [TIMELINESS OF FILING THE CLAIM IS MANDATORY & JURISDICTIONAL] [AN APPEAL IS NOT A MATTER OF RIGHT BUT IS A MERE STATUTORY PRIVILEGE]
Petitioner Ace/Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, Inc. filed a Petition for Review seeking reversal of the CTA 3rd Division’s earlier Decision and Resolution denying its Petition for lack of jurisdiction. Petitioner contended that its Petition “is not for the recovery of any penalty erroneously paid by and collected by the BIR.” Likewise, it is not contesting the denial of the refund but is contesting the existence of the delinquent account. Simply put, the Petitioner is contesting the Respondent Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR)’s ground for denying its refund claim. In ruling, it is clear that the Petitioner’s cause of action is the Respondent’s denial of its refund, and the declaration of the non-existence of the delinquent account is only incidental. Thus, the Court applied Sections 204(C) and 229 of the 1997 Tax Code, as amended, which require administrative and judicial claims to be filed within the same two-year prescriptive period. The Court cannot take cognizance of a judicial claim for refund filed either prematurely or out of time. Here, the Court found that the last day to file the Petition before the Court in Division was on August 14, 2016. Indeed, the Petition was belatedly filed on June 27, 2017, or 317 days after August 14, 2016. Hence, the CTA 3rd Division did not err in ruling that it had no jurisdiction over the subject Petition. Consequently, the Petition was DENIED. [ACE/SAATCHI & SAATCHI ADVERTISING, INC. VS. THE HONORABLE COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, CTA EN BANC CASE NO. 2645, AUGUST 15, 2023]
FOR THE 500% SURCHARGE TO BE IMPOSED, MISDECLARATION MUST BE QUALIFIED BY THE FACT THAT THE SAME IS EITHER INTENTIONAL OR FRAUDULENT
Petitioners Omega Six Global Corporation (OSGC) and Ma. Dolores F. Banaag/Z3 Trucking (Z3) filed a Joint Petition for Review seeking reversal of the Respondent Commissioner of Customs’ undated Resolution. Petitioners challenged the legality of the OSGC’s shipment’s forfeiture, the further imposition of a 500% surcharge on its liabilities, and Z3’s vehicle’s forfeiture for being a common carrier. On the other hand, the Respondent countered that the subject shipment’s seizure was proper since it was imported without the necessary National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) import permit and the forfeiture of the subject vehicle was warranted since it was inside the said vehicle that the illegally imported goods were being transported. In ruling, on the issue of misdeclaration, the Court finds that intentional misdeclaration was not established aptly to warrant the imposition of a 500% surcharge pursuant to Section 1400 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). However, the fact remains that the subject shipment’s importation was still not accompanied by the required permits from the NTC, making the seizure thereof proper under the circumstances. On the matter of the subject vehicle’s seizure, the Court is unable to make any evidence-based finding that Petitioner Z3 is a common carrier. Even with the absence of a factual finding that Petitioner Z3 is a common carrier since there is likewise no proof of fraud on Petitioner OSGC’s part, a further seizure of the property of Petitioner Z3 (who may be an innocent party to the misdeclaration) does not sit well with the Court. It was noted that there is no evidence that Petitioner Z3 was privy to the misdeclaration or discrepancy between the goods declared and actually delivered. Hence, the Petition was PARTIALLY GRANTED, the Petitioner OSGC was ORDERED to pay the assessed duties and other costs, without the 500% surcharge, on the subject shipment, and the Respondent is ORDERED to RELEASE the subject vehicle to Petitioner Z3, without further costs. [OMEGA SIX GLOBAL CORPORATION AND MA. DOLORES F. BANAAG/Z3 TRUCKING VS. COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, CTA CASE NO. 10692, JUNE 22, 2023]
CRIMINAL ACTIONS BEFORE THE CTA ARE INSTITUTED BY THE FILING OF INFORMATION & THE INSTITUTION OF THE CRIMINAL ACTION INTERRUPTS THE RUNNING OF THE PERIOD OF PRESCRIPTION
Petitioner People of the Philippines filed a Petition for Review seeking a reversal of the Court in Division’s earlier Resolutions. Petitioner submitted that the two (2) Information were filed within the five (5)-year prescriptive period provided under Section 281 of the 1997 Tax Code, as amended. It argued that the filing of the Complaint-Affidavit before the Department of Justice (DOJ) tolls the running of the prescriptive period for offenses punishable by special laws. On the other hand, Respondent Hua C. Uychiyong countered that the prescription had long set in considering that from the time of the discovery of the alleged violation of the Tax Code up to the filing of the two (2) Information, more than five (5) years have lapsed. In ruling, the Court En Banc finds that the filing of the Information in Court on November 8, 2019 effectively tolls the running of the five (5)-year prescriptive period, not the filing of the Joint Complaint-Affidavit with the DOJ on April 30, 2015. Counting five (5) years from the alleged commission of the offense involving a violation of the Tax Code on June 5, 2011, the prescriptive period to institute the criminal action under Section 281 of the Tax Code, as amended, lapsed on June 5, 2016. Being over three (3) years late, the right of the government to institute the subject cases against Respondents had already prescribed when the two (2) Information were filed before the Court in Division on November 8, 2019. Consequently, the Petition was DENIED for lack of merit. [PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES VS. WINTELECOM, INC./HUA C. UYCHIYONG (TREASURER), CTA EN BANC CRIMINAL CASE NO. 090, JUNE 21, 2023]
SEC to slap higher penalties on companies for delinquent reports [The Philippine Star, September 11, 2023]
The corporate regulator has ordered companies to comply with their reportorial requirements on time. Otherwise, they will be slapped with higher penalties for late and non-filing of the General Information Sheet (GIS) and Annual Financial Statement (AFS).
Pwedeng bumale? BPI launching ‘salary on demand’ [ABS-CBN News, September 11, 2023]
BPI is partnering with companies that use its payroll service to let their workers get a salary advance which will then be deducted from their upcoming paycheck.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/11/23/pwedeng-bumale-bpi-launching-salary-on-demand
Diokno admits economic team not consulted on rice price cap [GMA News Online, September 11, 2023]
During his weekly briefing with the Finance press corps, Diokno recalled that the economic managers—the secretaries of the Finance and Budget departments, as well as the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)—were in Japan when the issuance of the Executive Order No. 39 was announced to the public.
BSP chief bats for simpler tax on stocks, bonds [The Philippine Star, September 11, 2023]
At present, he said the Philippine equities and bonds markets are not in global indexes because of these complications in taxes.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2023/09/11/2295313/bsp-chief-bats-simpler-tax-stocks-bonds
Pag-IBIG posts record high membership, voluntary savings in Jan-Aug: CEO [ABS-CBN News, September 11, 2023]
In an informal briefing, Pag-IBIG CEO Marilene Acosta said for the first 8 months of the year, the fund’s membership savings reached P59.52 billion, which is 11 percent higher compared to the same period last year.
Philippine, Australia ‘work, holiday’ visa open to ages 18-31 [The Philippine Star, September 11, 2023]
The memorandum of understanding for reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangements was signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Australian Ambassador Hae Kyong Yu on Sept. 8, allowing citizens of both countries to do short-term work to help pay for their 12-month stay.
ADB warns vs risks from high interest rates [ABS-CBN News, September 11, 2023]
A new ADB report said with interest rates in the region remaining elevated, higher borrowing costs have contributed to debt stress and bond defaults in some Asian markets over the past few months.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/11/23/adb-warns-vs-risks-from-high-interest-rates
Palace declares provincial town holidays [The Philippine Star, September 10, 2023]
Malacañang has declared local holidays in a city and towns of eight provinces.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/09/10/2295206/palace-declares-provincial-town-holidays
Finance exec expected termination after FB post [The Manila Times, September 10, 2023]
FORMER Finance undersecretary Cielo Magno said that she knew that her Sept. 1, 2023 Facebook post of a graph showing how the price ceiling on rice contradicts basic economic concepts would cause her to lose her job.
Reduction of royalty rate will further hurt mining communities — Caritas Philippines [Interaksyon, September 10, 2023]
From 5 percent, Housing Bill No. 8937 seeks to lower the royalty on gross output for large-scale metallic mining operations within mineral reservations to 3 percent.
COA stops developer from claiming P755M from Calamba [Rappler, September 9, 2023]
MTD Philippines won the right to claim the amount, which stemmed from a favorable decision by the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC) in the failed joint venture agreement (JVA) between the developer and the city government.
https://www.rappler.com/nation/luzon/coa-stops-developer-claiming-arbitral-award-from-calamba/
Australia to introduce new visa schemes, double scholarships for Filipinos [The Philippine Star, September 8, 2023]
The Australian government has committed to introducing new work and holiday visa arrangements and providing more international education opportunities for Filipinos to strengthen ties with the Philippines, according to a joint statement by the two nations.
DOF exec who resigned ‘clearly set on maligning’ Marcos Jr’s admin: Palace [ABS-CBN News, September 8, 2023]
“The termination of her appointment could only be expected as she clearly does not support the administration and its programs for nation-building,” Bersamin said in a statement.
BPI, Robinsons Bank revise merger plan [The Philippine Star, September 8, 2023]
Both banks re-executed the plan and articles of merger as it deleted the word “substantially” and replaced with “approved by at least a majority” under the special provisions of the plan of merger pursuant to the comments of the central bank.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2023/09/08/2294588/bpi-robinsons-bank-revise-merger-plan
Calabarzon workers to get P35-P50 minimum wage hike —DOLE [GMA News Online, September 8, 2023]
With the wage order, the new minimum rates in Region IV-A will now range between P385 and P520 in non-agriculture sector, P385 to P479 in the agriculture sector, and P385 for retail and service establishments employing not more than 10 workers.
In the process of liquidation: Felipe Gozon shuts down 3 GMA subsidiaries [Bilyonaryo, September 7, 2023]
According to its most recent quarterly financial statement, GMA is closing two entertainment units – GMA Worldwide (Philippines), Inc. and Scenarios, Inc. – and one advertising unit – GMA Marketing & Productions, Inc. GMA has not provided any explanation for the decision to wind up these businesses.
House bill seeks 5-day ‘compassionate leave’ for workers [The Manila Times, September 7, 2023]
Under the bill, the leave may be used to attend to matters like illness or death of immediate family members or relatives within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity.
Lawmaker asks Philhealth to suspend collection of premiums from members [ABS-CBN News, September 7, 2023]
Quimbo made the request during a hearing of the House Committee on Appropriation, where she presented data showing that PhilHealth had a net income of over P100 billion in 2022.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/07/23/philhealth-asked-to-suspend-collection-of-premiums
DITO raises P2.2 B from Cayman Islands firm [Manila Bulletin, September 7, 2023]
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), DITO CME said its subsidiary DITO Holdings Corporation has issued 2.24 billion shares to Summit Global Ltd., an entity organized and existing under the laws of the Cayman Islands, at a consideration of P1.00 per share.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/7/dito-cme-raises-p2-2-b-more-from-cayman-islands-firm
Thrift banks’ assets hit P 943B despite tech challenges [Inquirer Mobile, September 7, 2023]
According to the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB), the industry segment faced the complexity of adopting digital technologies, including worries about cybersecurity, heightened competition from financial technology firms, the need for internet literacy, and evolving regulatory requirements.
PH, South Korea signed free trade agreement, says Marcos [GMA News Online, September 7, 2023]
In a speech after his participation in the 43rd ASEAN and Related Summits, Marcos said the FTA with South Korea would generate jobs and contribute to the Philippines’bid to be a regional hub for sustainable investments.
Metro Pacific, Sumitomo join forces to take over MRT 3 [Inquirer Mobile, September 6, 2023]
This was part of a broader push into railways and transport infrastructure as the industry giant announced a partnership on Monday with Malaysian railway pioneer Hartasuma Sdn Bhd to upgrade the Light Rail Transit Line 1 and potentially build the Philippines’ first cable car system.
GSIS raises Metro Pacific stake, rocking the boat ahead of delisting [Inquirer Mobile, September 6, 2023]
State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) delivered a surprise on Tuesday after almost quadrupling its stake in Manuel Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investment Corp. (MPIC) to nearly 12 percent days before the conclusion of the company’s P55-billion privatization bid.
‘Diskaril na ba?’: Makati subway project to be affected by court ruling on Taguig [The Philippine Star, September 6, 2023]
Phillipine Infradev Holdings, who is behind the railway’s development, said that the ruling will hit the depot and some of the stations. The project is a joint venture between Infradev and Makati.
DOE warned: Filipinos to pay for expensive LNG [Inquirer Mobile, September 6, 2023]
Relying on liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet a growing electricity demand could mean even higher power rates for Filipinos, a US-based think tank warned, as the Department of Energy (DOE) sought to make the Philippines “a major player” in the industry despite volatile fuel prices.
Recent Comments