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Tax notes: Tax treatment of online transactions

General

Oct 072013

Tax notes: Tax treatment of online transactions

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 55-2013 to remind the tax obligations of different parties engaged in online business transactions, which cover online shopping or online retailing, online intermediary service, online advertisement/classified ads, and online auction. Like any other business, RMC No. 55-2013 highlights the following compliance requirements of persons who conduct business through online transactions: 1) Register the business at the Revenue District Office (RDO) having jurisdiction over the principal place of business/head office (or residence in case of individuals) by accomplishing BIR Form 1901 (for individuals) or 1903 (for corporations or partnerships), and pay the registration fee to any Authorized Agent Bank (AAB) located within the RDO; 2) Secure the required Authority to Print (ATP) invoices/receipts and register books of accounts for use in business (manual or computerized); 3) Issue registered invoice or receipt, either manually or electronically, for every sale, barter, exchange, or lease of goods and properties, as well as for every sale, barter, or exchange of service; 4) Withhold and remit creditable/ expanded withholding tax, final tax, tax on compensation of employees, and other withholding taxes, and issue the corresponding withholding tax certificates; 5) File applicable tax returns on or before the due dates, pay correct internal revenue taxes, and submit information returns and other tax compliance reports, such as the Summary List of Sales/Purchases (SLS/P), Annual Alpha List of Payees, etc., at the time or times required by existing rules and regulations; and6) Keep books of accounts Read More …

Award seeks to encourage groups to aim for quality

General

Oct 032013

Award seeks to encourage groups to aim for quality

WITH the Asean integration just two years away, the need for quality management is even more apparent for local entities to compete with their global counterparts. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) hopes to make local organizations aim for quality excellence by participating in the Philippine Quality Awards. Patterned after the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, the Philippine Quality Awards (PQA) is a set of criteria for assessing an organization’s performance and is the country’s highest level of recognition. The program guides organizations in achieving performance excellence. Program DTI 7 Director Asteria Caberte said all organizations strive for quality but only few have succeeded in understanding what it takes to achieve it. Phillip Jason Roque, trade and industry development specialist under the DTI’s Center for Industrial Competitiveness, explained that organizations that aim to better themselves apply for the PQA program and get criteria to conduct self-assessments andare subject to external assessments. Roque also enumerated the benefits of applying for the PQA, which include gaining an outsider’s perspective of an organization’s strengths and opportunities for improvement, achieving greater success and increasing employee involvement and organization capabilities and sharpening of organizational tools for achieving business success. If selected to receive the award or any recognition level, they will receive a PQA trophy in Malacañang from the President of the Philippines and they can use it for publicity. Feedback More importantly, Roque said the feedback report from the assessors can guide an organization’s quality and productivity improvement efforts. “The award is secondary. All Read More …

Batuhan: Shady ways

General

Sep 062013

JANET Napoles, the alleged mastermind behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam, had a good night’s sleep on her fifth day of detention at a police camp in Laguna, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Friday. PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac said Napoles “verbalized that she had a good sleep” inside her spruced up detention room inside Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Napoles also had a good serving of scrambled egg, meat loaf and rice for breakfast around 6:30 a.m., Sindac added.” (From Philstar, 6 Sept. 2013) I was out of the country for the last couple of weeks, and had missed the Janet Napoles saga for that duration. Coming back into the country, these were the stuff of headlines that greeted me. The only thing I could think about was – how lucky for the rich! Lucky indeed. Spruced up detention room all to herself? Most common criminals have to content themselves with a cramped and dirty detention cell, often shared with forty other inmates. A jail in Sta. Rosa? She is neighbours with the rich and famous of the posh subdivisions there. And a breakfast of scrambled egg, meat loaf and rice? Lucky for her, because in most jails, the only thing they get is a scoop of rice and some salt to eat. But this is how the cookie crumbles for the rich. Remember Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo, who had to be transported to her cell in a helicopter? Remember Mayor Joseph Estrada, when he himself was incarcerated? Read More …

Remittances rise 6.2% to US$11.8B

Economy

Aug 162013

PERSONAL remittances from overseas Filipinos for January-June 2013 amounted to US$11.8 billion, representing a 6.2 percent increase from the level registered in the same period last year. The Bangko Sentral in Pilipinas (BSP) announced that 75.1 percent of the remittances came from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or longer. These remittances increased by 5.1 percent, despite continuing gloom in some major economies abroad. Remittance flows from sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts grew by 7.5 percent. For June 2013 alone, personal remittances increased year-on-year by 5.7 percent to reach US$2.1 billion, the highest monthly level recorded during the year. Cash remittances coursed through banks for the first six months of 2013 reached US$10.7 billion, sustaining the 5.6 percent growth in the same period last year. In particular, remittances from both sea-based (US$2.5 billion) and land-based workers ($8.2 billion) expanded by 7.4 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively, the BSP also said. Major sources of cash remittances were the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada, and Japan. Total flows from these countries represented about three-fourths (74.8 percent) of the total cash remittances coursed through banks. Remittances remained robust partly on the back of continued increase in demand for skilled Filipinos. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) reported the number of workers deployed overseas in 2012 increased by 6.8 percent to 1,802,031, from 1,687,831 in 2011. “The steady stream of remittances also drew continued support from the efficient network of bank Read More …

Asean integration in 2015 will be challenge for PH: PSE president

General

Aug 132013

Asean integration in 2015 will be challenge for PH: PSE president

IF the purpose of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is to liberalize trade among its member-nations, will the Philippines benefit from it? This question was often raised during the Forum on Asean Economic Integration held Friday. For Philippine Stock Exchange president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat, a good question would be to find out if Asean is a big trading partner of the Philippines that removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers would be advantageous. Sicat believes integration will be a challenge for the Philippines, as the Asean only constitutes a 17 percent share of its exports. The biggest trading partner of the country is in the East Asia economic bloc, which comprises China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North and South Korea, and Taiwan, constituting 50.1 percent. “Do we have the right group of economic partners?” he asked participants. Examples Aside from this, Sicat cited other challenges for the Philippines–it is a small economy, its citizens have a low awareness about the integration initiative, it has limited products and a small investor base. Still, he believes businesses can overcome the challenges, noting Filipino companies that have already conquered Asean long before integration was conceptualized. He cited as an example the case for Universal Robina Corp., which has established a foothold in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam with their array of snack food. “Even without the grand plan for integration, companies have figured out what Asean means to them,” he said. Sicat said an integrated financial Read More …

Almirante: Unfair labor practice

Economy

Jul 122013

PETITIONER Bankard, Inc. has resorted to job contractualization or outsourcing or contracting out of jobs. Among other programs, it also implemented a Manpower Rationalization Program (MRP), which was an invitation to the employees to tender their voluntary resignation with entitlement to separation pay equivalent to at least two months’ salary for every year of service. Majority of its Phone Center and Service Fulfillment Division employees availed themselves of the MRP. Respondent Bankard Employees Union-AWATU (Union) contended that Bankard committed unfair labor practice (ULP). Is there merit to this contention? Ruling: No. The general principle is that the one who makes an allegation has the burden of proving it. While there are exceptions to this general rule, in ULP cases, the alleging party has the burden of proving the ULP; and in order to show that the employer committed ULP under the Labor Code, substantial evidence is required to support the claim. Such principle finds justification in the fact that ULP is punishable with both civil and/or criminal sanctions. Aside from the bare allegations of the union, nothing in the records strongly proves that Bankard intended its program, the MRP, as a tool to drastically and deliberately reduce union membership. Contrary to the findings and conclusions of both the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and the Court of Appeals (CA), there was no proof that the program was meant to encourage the employees to disassociate themselves from the union or to restrain them from joining any union or organization. There was Read More …

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