Maniolas

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has suspended its auditing and field operation activities on business establishments and taxpayers for over three weeks to allow the completion of reports on their cases. According to Revenue Memorandum Circular 87-2014, issued on December 5 and signed by commissioner Kim S. Henares, “all field audit and other field operations of the BIR relative to examinations and verifications of taxpayers’ books of accounts, records and other transactions are hereby ordered suspended for the period December 16, 2014 to January 4, 2015.” The circular said there will be no field audit, field operations, or any form of business visitation in execution of letters of authority or audit notices, letter notices, or mission orders that will be conducted. “In general, examiners and investigators shall make use of this period to do office work on their cases and to complete the report on those with already completed,” it stated. Lita Ma. I. Chin, chief of assessment division of BIR Revenue Region 19-Davao City, said the order will put on hold the reports and auditing of 22 establishments that were under surveillance this year. She said the surveillance of the 22 and the reports on other business establishments will be continued the following year once the suspension is lifted. However, there are exceptions to the circular: investigation of cases prescribing on or before April 15, 2015; processing and verification of estate tax returns, donor’s tax returns, capital gains tax returns, and withholding tax returns on the sale of Read More …

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) spending in the Philippines is expected to grow by 11.4% to $6.76 billion this year, driven by strong consumer spending, healthy economic fundamentals and improved credit ratings, International Data Corp. (IDC) said on Thursday.

Dr. Daniel Yergin MANILA, Philippines – Global and local energy experts provided different perspectives on addressing the issue of energy shortage in the country as part of energy security in the ASEAN region, during the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) conference held recently in Makati City. The discussion was led by distinguished thought leaders including Dr. Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winner and vice chairman of global information company IHS Inc.; and US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg. For its part, energy and gas technology leader Shell highlighted a crucial factor in the energy mix in Asia, which is natural gas.  “When we talk about energy, people normally discuss issues about price and access. But equally important are issues relating to supply security and on externalities like health and environment. Balancing all these issues is where we believe natural gas can play a crucial role,” said forum participant Edgar Chua, country chairman of Shell companies in the Philippines. Chua noted that there is an increasing demand for renewable energy sources due to its lower environmental impact. However, one factor that is deterrent to the complete reliance on renewable energy is its intermittency. Given the benefits from natural gas such as better air quality, low carbon emissions, and faster gas plant construction, Chua said natural gas can be the ideal complement to renewable energy.  Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Although the Philippines had a 60-percent energy self-sufficiency rate in 2011 and is currently Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, is targeting to draw in up to 800 megawatts of capacity from the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) by January 2015 to plug the supply gap next summer, its top official said yesterday. “We’re targeting to sign up to 800 MW of ILP capacities from our franchise area by Jan. 31,” said Meralco president Oscar Reyes in a briefing yesterday. The power distributor said it is optimistic on next year’s business environment despite the summer shortage, projecting a 3.5 percent increase in sales volume. Meralco has signed total captive capacity of 263.45 MW from the ILP, which will come from 38 companies with 197.55 MW and potential sign-ups of 65.90 MW from more companies, according to latest data from the power distributor. In all, including those outside the franchise area of Meralco, the Department of Energy (DOE) is targeting to come up with 1,000 MW for the summer of 2015. Under the ILP, big power users will be asked to run their own generators when supply is short in the summer months, instead of getting their power from the Luzon grid. In exchange, they will be compensated for their fuel costs. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 The electricity that would not be taken from the grid would be available to households and other users, sparing them from rotating blackouts. The ILP is the option Congress is eyeing to avert next year’s looming power shortage instead Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan remains confident the Philippine economy will grow faster in the October to December period than in the previous quarter. “Based on the available information, it (fourth quarter) is expectedly better than the third quarter,” he said in a yearend press briefing yesterday. In the third quarter this year, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.3 percent, the slowest pace in nearly three years. On the average, the economy grew 5.8 percent in the first nine months of the year. But to be able to achieve the lower end of the government’s target of 6.5 percent, the fourth quarter must expand by 8.2 percent. “For the first three quarters of this year, the economy grew at an average of 5.8 percent. While this falls below our target of at least 6.5 percent, the Philippine economy remains among the brightest spots in the region,” Balisacan said, also the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). He said export performance in 2014 has been notable, especially for high-value products, and this bodes well for the economy as a whole. The growing household consumption indicates greater consumer confidence, which could boost growth. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first eight months of the year, growth of the industry sector has outpaced that of the services sector dating back since the second half of 2012. “This is consistent with our strategy to promote the resurgence of industry Read More …