Discretion is a power which makes someone powerful even more powerful. Administrative bodies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs, were given discretionary powers in order to carry out their tasks to implement laws. The grant of discretion recognizes that the agency has the knowledge, experience and specialization on a particular field to make judgments. Discretionary powers facilitate efficient implementation, upholds the law, curbs the evils the laws seek to avoid and achieves the higher interest of the State, its citizens and those who sojourn its territory, equity. However, discretion is double-edged in that it impacts negatively when it is abused, performed in manifest partiality and favored one’s own interest.
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School opening last week again highlighted the terrible traffic in Metro Manila, said to be among the worst in the world. It took me during the Wednesday rush hour, one hour and forty-five minutes for the three-kilometer distance to my business meeting. While I have emotionally accepted my fate of being stuck in Manila, let me share you some of my thoughts in a listicle, on how we can ease the traffic in our own little ways
When the new Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner, lawyer Cesar Dulay, formally assumed office on July 1, it appeared to many that he intended to make an impression. Wasting no time, the Commissioner took many by surprise with three new issuances.
At some point or other along the life cycle of your technology business, it is likely you will need access to additional capital to help realise your growth plans. This funding may be required for sales and marketing, developing your technology, growing your team or other strategic ambition.
In September 2015, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) issued a memorandum circular covering the Philippine Financial Reporting Framework for Cooperatives (Reporting Framework). This Reporting Framework, which will only be effective for financial statements ending on December 31, 2016, is based largely (except for certain accounting treatments incorporated or revised by CDA which it deemed distinct and unique for cooperatives) on the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (PFRS for SMES).
So we are all familiar with digital? It is part of everyday life, from Facebook to phone-based payment services to a-million-and-one apps. How does a business reach out to its customer base, encourage them to maintain that brand loyalty and make money from just being ‘liked’?
In my recent visit to the shrines and castles of the Japanese cities of Osaka and Kyoto, I noticed that elementary pupils, in groups of five to 10, were being guided not just by their teachers but also by elderly persons who appeared to be explaining to them the history or the significance of the places we were visiting. I, of course, assumed that was what the older guides were doing as they gesticulated vigorously while talking (in Nihongo, I suppose). I believe this is how elementary educational field trips should be conducted—focused and in small groups, especially if they involve young and impressionable kids.
The Electronic Filing and Payment System (eFPS) was developed to provide taxpayers with “top quality and convenient service through a much faster processing and immediate confirmation of filing of tax returns and payment of taxes due thereon.” The system allows the taxpayers to directly encode, submit their tax returns and pay their taxes online. Considering the convenience made by the eFPS, filing and payment can be done anytime and anywhere where Internet is accessible. In spite of such accessibility, taxpayers fall prey to the trifles of the due dates for filing and payment in case these falls on a holiday or on a weekend.