Be updated on our latest insights

THE NEW autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), would have been inaugurated by the time this commentary gets into print. I am happy about this development, and I hope it will usher in a much more successful autonomous Muslim region than its predecessor had been. The entire country needs and, I am sure, wants it to be so.

DEMOCRACY can be defined in a variety of ways, from definitions with varying complexities to a rather simple one. Let us pick a basic and simple definition: a form of political association among the people of a state within a defined geographical area where sovereignty resides in the people who express such sovereignty by voting to select the leaders of the government of the state.

FOR THE PAST few days, we have seen once again the spectacle of candidates filing their candidacy for elective posts in the 2019 mid-term elections.

“I love the Philippines, I Pay My Taxes Right. It’s easy as RFP.” This was the tax campaign theme of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) launched in 2014. According to the BIR, the concept of love for the country was carried in the RFP campaign. RFP stands for Register, File and Pay which captures the basic steps that a taxpayer should follow to be able to comply with his obligation of “paying right taxes” for nation building. Failure to comply may result in significant financial consequences on the taxpayer, with imprisonment as a worst case.

The presumption of regularity afforded to the revenue examiners in the assessment of taxes and the vested power of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to unilaterally determine any deficiency tax make the playing field in the Philippine Tax System unevenly matched.

Accountants should work more closely with academia. That was my key takeaway from a trip to Edinburgh last week for the British Accounting and Finance Association meet. It is clear that the academics welcome input from practitioners and I found myself volunteering to share some of my experiences with their students. And I got the impression that lecturers would welcome much more practical input at all stages of research and in all aspects of their work.

I spend a lot of time outside of work with friends and colleagues; going out, playing or watching sport, going to the cinema. But do I spend as much quality time as I should with my family? If you ask my Mum, she will say no.

Thinking outside the Big Blue box. Scott Barnes responds to UK Competition Commission proposals.