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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.

Like many mothers whose child will be joining the first batch of Senior High School students under the K-to-12 program this year, I have already embraced the new policy and placed my trust in our policymakers that these additional years will better prepare my son for his future.

Debt can play a pivotal role in helping to grow a business—but only if you do it right. That means financing your working capital needs with short-term debt—like operating loans and accounts payable, funding capital assets with term financing or leases, and matching repayment terms on your loans with your business’s cash flow ability. These five steps can help you properly structure your debt most effectively:

Majority of businesses are either renting or leasing property. Lease implies a contract to use the property belonging to another party over a period of time for a specified payment. Leasing is mainly a financing medium used by a lessee to possess and use property and equipment as the cash outflow is made over the lease term. Leasing, in effect, allows companies to use their cash to finance their operations, instead of tying such funds up in the purchase of property and equipment. Moreover, leasing allows companies to avoid the issue of obsolescence and to some degree, its maintenance.

Imagine if majority of the working population are part owners of the company where they work. Imagine the enthusiasm and excitement this possibility can infuse into the workplace! Aside from an increase in productivity as a result of employees’ awareness of their share in the company’s profit, employee retention may also remain high and result in a stable succession. Employee ownership can be accomplished in a variety of ways: employees can buy shares of stock directly from the company, receive stock options at a specified exercise price, obtain shares through a profit-sharing plan, or this could be awarded as a bonus. Of these avenues, the employee stock option plan (ESOP) is, perhaps, the least popular route to increasing employee ownership. ESOP is a kind of employee benefit plan, similar in some ways to a profit-sharing plan. In an ESOP, a company sets up a trust fund, into which it contributes new shares of its own stock or cash to buy existing shares.

When I started practicing in tax law, the rules in determining fair market value of shares of stocks were quite simple. We were instructed to rely on the book value of the shares of stock based on the latest audited financial statement of the company which issued the shares. There were certain adjustments, of course, but generally, the book value is quite reliable.

It is a common practice among Filipinos to consult a doctor or go to the hospital only when the disease has reached a serious stage. This sometimes puts the patient at risk of being diagnosed only when the illness already requires intensive care, or worse, when it is too late to save the patient’s life.

Now that the annual tax filing season is over, it is about time to revisit your tax planning strategy for the next year. This becomes more relevant since the deadline for the first quarter income tax return is fast approaching. Tax planning involves weighing various tax options to determine the most beneficial way to conduct a business. One should bear in mind that tax planning aims not only to save on taxes but also to reduce or eliminate tax exposures during tax examinations. These days, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is very aggressive in its campaign to increase collections, and it is crucial to employ the right tax planning strategies.