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Philippine Financial Reporting Standard (PFRS) 16 is the new accounting standard for lease of assets or arrangements that contain a lease. It became effective on Jan. 1. It replaces Philippine Accounting Standard (PAS) 17, which means that entities reporting under PFRS shall apply this new standard in their lease transactions starting on the effectivity date.

In February, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11210 or the 105-Day Expanded Maternity Leave Law (EMLL). The expanded maternity leave benefits under the EMLL are fully tax-exempt. This is the interpretation issued by the BIR in RMC 105-2019. Indeed, this is a deserved tax break for working mothers.

A moral lesson can be gleaned from the circumstances surrounding the childhood of the greatest man who walked the earth, Jesus. This vital lesson also helps investors thrive in their business transactions, especially amidst fast-changing times.

My son, Khalil, will celebrate his 17th birthday next week. He now stands at five feet and 10 inches and is in senior high school. I had Khalil when I was very young. I was then a pregnant adolescent, still navigating through college, definitely lost and amiss. It was a very difficult period in my life. Without the guidance and support of my family and friends, I am not sure if I would have been able to get through such challenging times.

Change — it may mean alteration, modification, variation, conversion, transformation, or amendment. Whichever way we view it, change will always be part of our lives whether we like it or not. Our Philippine tax laws have been recently amended to lower the tax rates on income received by individual taxpayers to keep up with the changing times. As part of the move to keep up with our neighbors and be competitive, our Congress is now aiming to amend our tax laws to reduce the corporate income tax.

House Bill No. 4157 or the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) is on its way to the Senate after being approved on third reading in the House of Representatives.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has signaled that it will conduct transfer pricing audits with the promulgation of its Transfer Pricing Audit Guidelines under Revenue Audit Memorandum Order (RAMO) No. 1-2019. The Transfer Pricing Guidelines were issued in 2013 through Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 2-2013.

The Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA) or House Bill No. 304 hurdled the scrutiny of the House Ways and Means Committee a few days ago. If passed into law, PIFITA will amend certain provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (Tax Code) on the taxation of passive income and income of financial intermediaries. PIFITA will be the fourth package of the government’s comprehensive tax reform program.