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The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented amount of financial pressure on many businesses and increase in economic uncertainty for others. Nearly two years into this pandemic, economic forecasts suggest that some pressures are likely expected to ease along with the initial steps taken towards economic recovery. As we near the end of the calendar year, management of companies will have to re-assess how these economic conditions affect companies’ ability to continue as a going concern. Auditors, on the other hand, will have to practice enhanced professional skepticism in validating management’s representations on whether companies are indeed out of the woods or are still caught up in the downturn brought by the pandemic. Disclosures regarding going concern will be of utmost importance in providing transparent and relevant information to users of financial statements.

The Social Security System (SSS) signed Circular No. 2021-14 last October 29, 2021 which allows SSS member-borrowers to fully settle their outstanding loan balance, composed of principal and interest, with condonation of penalty.

As the Philippine economy steps on nascent recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the headline inflation remains high at 4.6% in October 2021 from 4.8% in September 2021. Except for June 2021, headline inflation rests well above the 2% to 4% target band of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Could this high inflation just be transitory or the beginning of a longer-term problem? This is one the most important questions for the global economy now as central bankers and policymakers are divided.

A rise in election campaign spending is anticipated, albeit in more creative ways as we are still coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), some P5.8 billion was spent during the 2016 polls, with major spending on ad placement in various media platforms — and that is assuming that there were no misstatements in the Statement of Contributions and Expenses submitted by the political candidates to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Have you ever dreaded the hassle of queuing during filing and payment deadlines? Are you too familiar with the busy crowd in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) office every 15th of April? Although these have been drastically minimized recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the solution to ease the burden of paying taxes, while encouraging higher voluntary engagement for tax compliance among taxpayers is still lacking. In fact, the Philippines has been lagging behind the rest of its ASEAN neighbors since 2005. To date, the Philippines is at 7th place of 10 ASEAN countries, and 95th of 190 countries worldwide, scoring roughly 60 out of 100 on the ease of business metrics, despite the recent implementation of tax reforms.

Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 97-2021, which focuses on taxation of income received by social media influencers, was issued last Aug. 16, 2021. Since then, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has continued to double its efforts in strengthening the tax compliance of all taxpayers deriving income online.

As the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. There is no doubt that the pandemic severely impacted the Philippine Stock Exchange, causing it to dip by 8.6% year-on-year and reach a low of 4,000-level in 2020. But the situation is not as bleak as the numbers present it.

During a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) tax audit, taxpayers avoid, as much as possible, receiving a Final Assessment Notice (FAN) or think of elevating their concerns to the Court of Tax Appeals. These late stages of the tax assessment process mean incurring significant costs and expending effort to challenge the assessment or defend taxpayers’ arguments, with little to no assurance of a reduction or cancellation of the assessment.