Apr 142014
 
Doctors’ group commits to pay correct taxes

The government ads, which ran in Manila newspapers on Sunday, showed a female teacher lecturing in front of her class with a woman in a medical suit holding a doctor’s clipboard sitting on her shoulders. MANILA (Mabuhay) – Members of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) has given their support to the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) efforts for greater tax compliance among medical doctors. In a statement, PCP President Priscilla B. Caguioa said: “Foremost in our tasks and responsibilities as medical doctors is to serve, guided by our moral obligation to provide the optimum care to individuals who are in need. We, in the PCP, have fought for necessary reforms to clean our own ranks. We have been successful doing so, but not without the government’s cooperation and encouragement.” Because of these reforms, the group saw a “palpable increase” among members in their issuance of receipts, reliable maintenance of records, VAT registration, as well as the payment of taxes. “Honest compliance is part and parcel of the ethical responsibilities of any professional in contributing his or her share in nation building,” Caguioa said. She noted the PCP was at the forefront of pushing for the passage of the Sin Tax Law. “Apart from the campaign’s obvious health components and effects, PCP’s sin tax advocacy resulted in the increase in taxes imposed on tobacco and alcoholic beverages. The effort would not have succeeded without its partnership with the BIR, among others,” she said. Because of the Sin Tax Law, the Read More …

Aug 122013
 
Huge forex losses drag SMC to P2.4-B loss

MANILA, Philippines – Huge foreign exchange losses dragged diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) into the red in the first semester. “Including unrealized forex losses, net loss attributable to the equity holders of the parent company amounted to P2.4 billion,” the food-to-power conglomerate said in a regulatory filing. In contrast, SMC posted a net income of P14.12 in the first semester of 2012. SMC said the strengthening of the dollar against the peso “resulted in foreign exchange losses of P10.2 billion in June dragging the company’s overall performance for the (first half).” However, excluding unrealized forex losses, SMC’s recurring net income hit P7.8 billion in the January to June period. “Forex losses mask the solid performance we had in our businesses. But we remain bullish about our underlying performance, which we attribute to a series of competitive advantages that should help us moving forward,” said SMC chairman and CEO Eduardo M. Cojuangco Jr. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 In the first half, the diversified conglomerate’s revenues reached P357.5 billion, up nine percent from last year due to strong performances from food subsidiary San Miguel Pure Foods and Petron Malaysia, which was consolidated into the the SMC Group in April 2012. SMC said its operating income picked up 19 percent to P28.9 billion “brought about by lower generation costs from SMC Global Power Corp. and growth in volumes in the food group’s operations.” Specifically, it benefited from favorable prices of raw materials on the back of higher Read More …