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Are you anxious every time you leave your home, because of the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov)? If you are, it is normal. Most people now refrain from going to the malls, parks, and churches, and prefer to stay at home to prevent from catching the virus. Even my mother has observed that fewer people walk down Session Road in Baguio.

The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed on Thursday, Jan. 30, the first case of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines. This alarmed many Filipinos.

Today, I celebrate my one-year anniversary working at Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A). In the past 12 months, my life has changed, and my priorities have transformed in ways I could never have imagined. It’s challenging, but these challenges were just one of many things that helped me grow and develop my professional work opportunities.

Sunday was the Feast of the Sto. Niño or the Child Jesus. While attending Sunday mass, we were reminded to be obedient like a child to be more worthy of the kingdom of God. Obey the rules and you will be rewarded.

On Sunday afternoon, I was surprised to read news of Taal Volcano erupting, spewing ash and causing the shutdown of our international airport. I was caught unaware. A search of my newsfeed showed no prior articles about Taal Volcano, so I was surprised to see graphic images from friends and family of the volcanic eruption suddenly flooding my social media. Perhaps I was more focused on the Iran-US situation or the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s announcement that they are stepping back from their royal roles to have missed updates on Taal, if there were any.

Many things can happen in a year. We realize our dreams, reach our goals, make mistakes, and meet new people; the most important thing is that we learn from experience. The same thing can be said from a business perspective, where we, as stakeholders, learn that each new year brings numerous challenges in complying with government requirements as part of continuing operations in the coming year. Listed below are some of the requirements — so mark your calendars to plan your activities this January.

Last year, I had the chance to write an article about the things that the employers need to know in computing for the annualized tax on compensation. The focus was the changes brought about by the Republic Act (RA) No. 10963 — Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law and recent Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issuances. This year, I’ll tackle the recent changes in the reportorial requirements, especially now that we’re nearing towards the year-end.

If we ask taxpayers what they think about what’s next for them, we could certainly get varying responses. One would answer, “Tax deadlines, of course!” Another would say, “Tax assessments and maybe, tax reform?” One might even say, “I would rather not think about it right now; don’t spoil my December!”