THE EXTERNAL payments position saw a “recovery” in the inbound capital flows in early March following two straight months of deficits, a central bank official said, noting improving market sentiment and sound fundamentals in the Philippines.
For 2016, the Philippines’ national budget is around P3 trillion and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is tasked to collect around P2 trillion. Out of the BIR’s total collection target, about P1.243 trillion is expected to come from income taxes. That is how important income taxes are for the country, accounting for around 41% of the national budget. It is interesting to note, however, that a lot of countries are now shifting their focus to indirect tax. The primary reasons behind the global shift to indirect tax are discussed in an article released by Grant Thornton International (Grant Thornton) entitled “Rethinking Tax: The shift to indirect tax,” and I would like to share this article with you.
JOINING the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has become imperative for the Philippines because of recent indications that foreign investors have sounded off their intensions to relocate to economies that offer a greater advantage because of their membership to the trading bloc.
ING BANK N.V. expects new opportunities in wind energy projects in the Philippines even after the country reached an operational capacity of 400 megawatts (MW), which it said was the highest so far in the region.
“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.
RAISING INVESTMENT in public infrastructure would translate to around 5% of economic expansion for the Philippines after 15 years, an economist from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
Of the P3.002-trillion national budget, P702.9 billion is intended for infrastructure in 2016. The P702.9-billion capital outlay budget represents 23.4% of the 2016 total budget, and represents a 29.8% rise from 2015. According to the government, the programmed increase of infrastructure spending will bring the Philippines almost at par with the global benchmark of 5% infrastructure spending. Robust spending is good for the economy as it aims to link lagging communities to growth centers and people to opportunities. A significant increase in infra spending is also expected during this election year. Thus we see ongoing government projects all over the Philippines in various stages of completion.
MEMBERS of foreign business chambers in the Philippines gathered yesterday to enumerate the country’s gains on the fifth year of their annual forum while highlighting the issues that still need to be addressed, which ranged from foreign investment restrictions to openness to international trade.
THE UNITED STATES is engaged in talks with the Philippines to address areas of reform to get the country ready for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with Washington considering it to be a significant economy that will eventually join the free-trade bloc “down the road,” Ambassador Philip S. Goldberg said.
THE EUROPEAN Commission has adopted its first monitoring report on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that included an assessment of the Philippines’ implementation of 27 international conventions.