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Philippines: Taxes to be collected from foreign workers
Various government agencies are now working closely to ensure that foreigners working for offshore gaming operators are paying income taxes, the Finance department said on Sunday.
In a statement, the department quoted Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd as saying that the list of foreign nationals working for service providers of Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO) should be consolidated and reconciled by those involved in screening, providing work permits and registering them in the country.
“If we get all that [information], then it is possible that we can begin to collect taxes, enforcing the law on these foreign workers who are operating here. Isn’t that what we really want to do here, enforce the law?” Dominguez was quoted as having said during a February 19 meeting with the heads of various government agencies.
These included the Department of Foreign Affairs, which screens and issues visas to foreign nationals entering the country; Department of Justice, which oversees the Bureau of Immigration that grants short-term special work permits to foreigners; Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), which issues alien employment permits; state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), which has a list of licensed POGO operators; Department of Trade and Industry, which oversees the country’s special economic zones where a few POGOs operate; and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that registers POGO agents.
Dominguez said “a good starting point” would be to trace the employers of these foreign workers so that a portion of their salaries could be withheld and turned over to the government as partial payment of their income taxes.
Besides ensuring that foreign nationals comply with tax laws, the Finance chief also explained that it was imperative for the government to find out who and where all these alien workers are given national security implications.
During last month’s meeting, BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa noted that the tax bureau had listed 54 POGO licensees, of which 10 were local and 44 offshore.
Only seven local operators and eight of the offshore licensees were registered with tax agency, he added.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, meanwhile, said less than 95,000 foreign nationals had been issued temporary work permits as POGO employees as of June last year.
Pagcor Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo committed to provide a complete list of, and information about, POGO service providers and require them to provide a list of their foreign workers and their respective salaries.
SEC Deputy Commissioner Javey Paul Francisco, for his part, pledged to provide a list of corporations registered as POGO agents, while Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the department would give the BIR a list of foreign nationals working in economic zones.
Lastly, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said he would immediately convene an interagency task force to consolidate and reconcile lists to be provided by various agencies.
Dominguez said the Finance department and members of the task force would meet after 30 days, during which a complete and clean list of foreign nationals working in offshore gaming operations is expected to be presented.
The BIR wants regulators to strictly enforce registration rules for POGOs amid concerns that the industry has become a conduit for undocumented workers from China.
Pagcor, in particular, has been asked to verify that the gaming firms have been officially enrolled with the BIR before the regulator extends their licenses.
Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/taxes-to-be-collected-from-foreign-workers/520336/