Be updated on our latest insights

The IATF adjusted the COVID-19 alert levels of certain areas such as that of the National Capital Region, where the alert level is now at 3. Through a resolution, the authorities relaxed quarantine restrictions over the coming days to provide more mobility to people in certain trades. According to the 2021 Asian Development Outlook update, the Philippine economy is recovering and rebounding at a growth rate of 11.8% from the second quarter due to the government’s expansionary fiscal policy, which it resorted to in order to fund the pandemic response, vaccination, and infrastructure projects. From these economic indicators, businesses and investors may expect that the Philippines to get back on track soon.

Last Sept. 22, 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11590 or an “Act Taxing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo),” which amends certain provisions in the National Internal Revenue Code to clarify taxes imposed on Pogos. This will provide clearer taxation guidelines and will strengthen the power of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to collect taxes from Pogos.

The pandemic supercharged the growth of the digital economy; the implementation of community quarantines forced us to stay at home and encouraged the use of online platforms to obtain our basic needs. Many continue to heavily rely on the internet and digital services for education, work, and entertainment. There’s no denying that online transactions quickly became part of our new normal. And while these offer advantages to us as consumers, it allows foreign online retailers to penetrate the Philippine market without having to invest or employ Filipinos. Thus, to ensure fair competition between traditional and digital businesses, and further generate funding for the pandemic recover effort, legislators were swift to propose a tax on these digital businesses.

IN its Revenue Memorandum Circular 94-2021, dated July 21, 2021, the Bureau of Internal Revenue clarified the proper computation of Donor’s Tax in case there is a partial renunciation of inheritance. This happens when an heir waives his/her share in an identified property but not to the entire set of properties of the decedent. Such scenario will result to an unequal share of heirs in the decedent’s property. Hence, donor’s tax should be computed based on the value of the share the heir has foregone in favor of other heirs.

There’s merit in knowing what and why things go viral on the Internet, even if you think your industry is far removed from needing to advertise on social media. Take, for example, a tweet posted back in April: a supposed HR personnel remarked how a fresh graduate declined his offer of a Php 37,000 starting salary. By itself, the tweet is unremarkable but what shot it through the height of virality is the unexpected relevance and ensuing discourse.

In recent years, Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs have become a household name mainly due to the noticeable rise of Chinese establishments and influx of Chinese workers. According to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), POGOs have been discovered to be operating here as early as 2003, but it was not until 2016 when the PAGCOR clearly defined the concepts, components, operations, and regulation, among others, of offshore gaming. A POGO is defined as an entity that offers and participates in offshore gaming services by providing games to players, taking bets, and paying the winners. The gaming activities refer to online games of chance, using a network and software, exclusively for offshore-authorized players who have registered and established an online gaming account with PAGCOR-licensed POGOs. Gambling activities are considered illegal in mainland China and thus, Chinese nationals resort to playing online casino and other virtual betting games operated by the aforementioned POGOs. This is a major contributing factor to the boom in the gambling industry in the Philippines.

As President, I will devote my whole six-year term to provide a much more effective, efficient, decisive and widely focused national leadership with the primary objective of transforming the Filipino nation into a fair, just, equitable and economically well-developed society and, thus, take a big leap forward from what it is today.

In December 2019, a novel strain of the corona virus (COVID-19) was reported to have surfaced in China. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern.” COVID-19 started to spread in the Philippines in early March 2020, causing the government to declare the country in a state of public health emergency followed by the implementation of enhanced quarantine and social distancing measures and restrictions across the country.