May 222017
 

A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting where it was discussed that Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) rulings are no longer published. Suddenly losing my appetite, I decided to forego dessert and coffee and instead, concentrated on listening to the discussion. The speaker said that BIR rulings must be kept private because they contain confidential information of the taxpayers which can violate the taxpayer’s right to confidentiality. In some cases, it was noted that even bank account details are included in the rulings necessitating the need to keep them private.

May 212017
 

With the rapid changes in the global business environment and the brisk increase in cross-border trade and transactions, regulators, enterprises and stakeholders alike agree that it is vital to sustain the creation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as a common and globally-accepted reference for financial reporting. However, given the depth, scope and complexity of global business, the adoption of new standards always comes with numerous challenges.