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Now that the festivities of Christmas and New Year’s have come to pass, let us start reminding ourselves of some of the filing requirements for January 2017. Below chronological are due dates of these filing requirements. 1. January 10 • Monthly Remittance Return of Value Added Tax and Other Percentage Taxes Withheld (BIR Form No. 1600) for the month of December 2016 -- This return shall be filed, whether manual filing or thru electronic filing and payment system (EFPS) by the following: (a) all government offices, bureaus, agencies or instrumentalities, local government units, government owned and controlled corporation on money payments made to private individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations and other juridical/artificial entities as required under RA Nos. 1051, 7649, 8241, 8424 and 9337; (b) payors to non-residents receiving income subject to value-added tax; (c) payors to VAT registered taxpayers receiving income subject to value-added tax; and (d) payors to persons, natural or juridical, subject to percentage tax under Sec. 116 of the Tax Code, if the taxpayer-payee opts to remit his percentage tax through the withholding and remittance of the same by the withholding agent-payor which option is manifested by filing the “Notice of Availment of the Option to Pay the Tax through the Withholding Process”, copy-furnished the withholding agent-payor and the Revenue District Offices of both the payor and payee.

Digital technology has unleashed a perpetual hurricane of creative economic destruction. Software is not only eating the world, but also many mid-sized businesses. Only the paranoid will survive, and here is why: Timescales have changed. The long term used to be a nebulous dot on the horizon. But today, time has been so sped up by technology that whatever once appeared long-term is happening now. Take for example, the robot economy, once the preserve of science-fiction writers. Today, however, what is now known as artificial intelligence or machine learning is about to change every industry—from education to healthcare to transportation. The future is here and it’s not evenly distributed.

Christmas celebrations in the Philippines are considered the longest in the world. With all the parties, gift-giving, food, shopping and festivities, this celebration can be the most wonderful time of the year. But we cannot forestall the inevitable -- taxes. While some may be savoring the cool Christmas air and enjoying the holidays, taxation does not stop. Every move appears to come with a tax consequence, and it pays to know the rules.

I was invited as speaker to the CPA (interchangeably used to mean Certified Public Accountant or Chartered Professional Accountant) Public Practitioners sectoral forum, which was part of the Annual National Convention (ANC) of the Philippine Institute of CPAs (PICPA) held last month in Davao City. More than 4,500 CPAs throughout the country attended the PICPA ANC, , coming from four sectors: education, commerce and industry, government and public practice).

The principles of a sound tax system are fiscal adequacy, administrative feasibility, and theoretical justice. Fiscal adequacy means the sources of revenue must be sufficient to meet government expenditures and other public needs. Administrative feasibility means tax laws and regulations must be capable of being effectively enforced with the least inconvenience to the taxpayer. And theoretical justice means that a sound tax system must be based on the taxpayers’ ability to pay.

Mindanao is one of these places where this cry needs to be answered. It has more than its quota of violent news and seemingly endless chaos. It has been fighting for peace amidst people with seemingly conflicting benefits and principles. Mindanao is tagged by tourism offices of other countries as among the least suggested places to be visited. Bombings, kidnappings, and threats to lives are daily realities Mindanaoans face.

Good governance plays a key role in supporting the execution of the strategy of any organization. It is, thus, the principal role of the leader to set the tone from the top by embedding good governance policies, procedure and processes throughout the organization and by letting the message across.

Issuance of rulings on the tax exemption of benefits paid to employees separated because of retrenchment or closure of the business are now devolved to the Revenue District Offices (RDOs) of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).