Atubangan kini sa gihimong pagtuon sa World Bank nga gi-ulohan og “Ease Of Doing Business” diin migawas nga naa sa ika-upat ang Pilipinas sa “World’s Top Ten Worst Countries for Business”.

Matud pa ni Domingo nga apil na niini ang pagpahiluna sa business permit licensing system sa pakigtambayayong sa Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) og mga local government unit (LGU) aron mas paspas ang pagproseso sa mga business permit.

Naa na usab ang ipatuman nilang Philippine Business Registry diin makuha na sa negosyante ang ilang business name, TIN, Social Security System (SSS), PAG-IBIG, ug PhilHealth registration sulod lamang sa 30 minutos.

Dugang pa ni Domingo, nagkaproblema lamang sila sa koneksyon sa Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) tungod kay dili pa sila fully computerized o automated. (PIA- Bohol/ecb)

Called “middle office,” this type of higher end services caters to work needed by professionals in health and business fields. “So that would include work that is typically provided to physicians, nurses or lawyers or accountants and we’re building models such that we can offer those services to our clients here in the US from our centers in the Philippines,” Bloom said. (PCOO)

Sa iyang mensahe atubangan sa 500 ka mga negosyante kalabot sa Philippines-China Trade Forum, miingon ang Presidente nga pag-abot sa tuig 2015, mahimo’ng Northern gateway na ang Pilipinas sa higayon nga matukod ang ASEAN Economic Community.

Matud pa sa Presidente, karon ang tukmang panahon samtang bag-o na ang administrasyon sa Pilipinas ug mas mayo nga magtukod og negosyo.

“We want even more of our people to work with you towards partnerships that are mutually beneficial: After all, by 2015, with the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community, the Philippines will be the Northern gateway to the region. The time to open that gateway, together, is now,” matud pa ni Presidente Aquino.

Giingon’g nakipag-tambayayong na ang DILG ug DTI sa mga governors ug uban pang local officials aron mohimo og mga ordinansa nga tukma sa nasudnong balaod aron mapadali ang pagnegosyo sa mga lalawigan.

Dungan niini, nagpasalamat ang Presidente sa mga negosyanteng Chinese sa ilang mga investments sa Pilipinas ilabi na alang sa development sa Mindanao region.

Partikular na niini ang naa sa $23 milyon nga gibubo sa public work projects sa rehiyon nga may potential mahimong ‘food basket’ sa nasud.

“As I speak, these projects, worth 12 and 11 million dollars respectively, are currently being undertaken; and both are expected to be completed in 2013.These projects are only two examples of the enthusiasm that results from partnerships between our countries,” dugang pa sa Presidente. (PIA-Bohol/ecb)

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio gave this ‘ballpark figure’in an interview he granted with the members of the media at the Traders Hotel here, early Tuesday evening, hours before President Aquino arrived.

Panlilio was firm and positive about the ‘serious investments’ the government would get from various Chinese companies which would likely go to mining, infrastructure, energy, ship building, and the agri-business sectors.

Panlilio said there are Chinese mining firms that have expressed interests in joint ventures with Filipino companies given the country’s richness in major minerals such as gold deposits, copper, nickel, and chromite.

Panlilio also cited significant improvements made by the Aquino administration towards preventing corruption in the government based on the latest assessment made by the World Bank which could increase the level of confidence investors have in the country.

The DTI executive pointed out that President Aquino’s state visit to China has become so significant given the ‘historic high’ number of business delegation (250) that decided to get involved in this presidential trip.

“We’ve never had a business delegation as big as this in the history of presidential trips abroad and what is significant about this trip is that there was so much interest—and, of course, this is KKB (kanya-kanyang bayad).  Nobody is in for a free ride here. All [members] of the business delegation are putting good money to be here in support of the President’s drive, you know, for business and trade promotion,” Panlilio said.

Sa briefing sa Senate Finance committee kalabot sa balaodnon sa 2012 national budget, miingon si BSP Governor Amando Tetanco Jr. nga bisan moubos ang piso, makabarug ra usab kini.

Ang lig-on nga pagsulod sa remittances sa mga Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), export receipts ug ang igong reserves ang mosuporta sa kalig-on sa piso.

Samtang matud pa usab ni kanhi Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, dili angay magpanik ang gobyerno sa gihimo sa Standard and Poor’s nga pagpaubos sa AAA rating sa Estados Unidos sa AA+ nga maoy pinakaubos nila nga rating sukad niadtong tuig 1917.

Dugang pa ni Diokno, lig-on pa gihapon ang ekonomiya ng US kun itandi sa mga nasud sa Europa o bisan sa China.

Bisan pa niini, gitataw ni Diokno nga angay pa gihapon’g mag-andam ang Pilipinas tungod kay siguradong maigo ang nasud kun mohinay ang ekonomiya sa Amerika ug mao kini ang panahon aron mas hingusgan sa kagamhanan ang domestic economy niini. (PIA-Bohol/ecb)

7:53 pm | Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Continued fuel smuggling and the changing rules in the Philippine taxation system are increasing the uncertainty for international companies to invest in the Philippines, according to Total Philippines president Ernst Wanten.  At the sidelines of a conference hosted by the Philippine Institute of Petroleum (PIP), Wanten noted that the huge challenges faced by investors in the oil industry remained the “same as they’ve always been” despite the government’s goal of achieving a “level playing field.”  “We’re on the same line with the government on the principle of [having a level playing field]. We can see that and we’re happy with that. It’s simply the capability of doing it, and the way they go about it [collecting
tax or customs duties], which is inadequate,” Wanten explained.

On the issue of fuel smuggling, Wanten admitted that they have a “feeling that smuggling is increasing again.”  “We feel more pressure again from the same illegal players that’s always been there. And everything’s the same as before. There was a point, anyhow, after the new government came in last year, we felt there was a real reduction,” Wanten said.

Wanten added that the PIP, of which Total is a member, has been pushing for measures to curb fuel smuggling. “We’ve even proposed how to tackle it. But it’s more of putting it to work.”  As for the country’s taxation system, Wanten noted that while the oil industry was in favor of properly taxing everybody, the government, however, was not going after the players who were not paying taxes.

“What we’ve seen in the drive of the new government to increase tax collection is that, to us, it just looks like they are looking at [going after] the normal, legal companies. There is a drive to collect more, but we think the way they’re doing it is not good at all. They’re still not tackling the ones who are not paying taxes,” Wanten said.  “The basic [objective] of the drive [to increase tax collection efficiency] is correct. But the way they do it is what we’re not happy with. And it’s a general consensus among [oil] industry players.  It also increases the uncertainty for international companies to invest in the Philippines,” Wanten added.

One of the uncertainties that might drive away investments was the Philippine taxation system whose rules, according to Wanten, were not clear and changed retroactively. And this setup, he said, was a unique thing in the world.  “The rules are not applied in a consistent way and it just increases the uncertainty of doing business in this country. The ideas are right in the government, but at the moment [these are] not rolled out in the right way and it could have a reverse effect,” Wanten warned.

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is set to conduct lifestyle checks on professionals – including doctors, lawyers and accountants – in a move to convince self-employed people to pay their proper taxes to the government.  Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said in a wide-ranging discussion on Friday with editors, columnists and reporters of the BusinessMirror, the Philippines Graphic and radio station dwIZ, that the agency would release to the public “by sector” the names of the country’s highest-paid professionals.
She did not say how the lifestyle check would be conducted, but hinted that it would be similar to the lifestyle checks on government officials.

Henares revealed that during her meeting with the Professional Regulation Commission, she learned there were about 3 million professionals in the country; the BIR’s database only shows around 195,000 of them are paying their taxes.

“Of course, from the 3 million professionals you will deduct the nurses and the seafarers because they are not considered self-employed anymore.” Still, she said the data reveal that the difference between the number of taxpaying and nontax-paying professionals is huge.

“We are asking people to insist that they be issued a receipt by all these professionals,” she said.

According to BIR data, the total income tax remitted last year was around P170 billion. Of this figure, only P9.83 billion came from self-employed individuals; the rest was from those employed whose companies automatically deduct their taxes from their salaries (withholding taxes).

Based on the income-tax returns filed in April, the P9.83 billion was paid by 1.69 million people who declared
themselves self-employed; they included those who run their own businesses. Professionals are included in the self-
employed category.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the tax remittance was “too small”; each of them paid only an average of
P5,800 in income taxes. Computed, this meant they declared earning only less than P20,000 the year before.

“I think they [income tax payments] should be higher. It does not make sense when you compare them with the
average payment of those who are employed. It’s not believable,” Purisima said earlier.

“We would be zeroing in on this sector [self-employed]. We are encouraging them to come forward and go to the
[BIR], and pay the deficiency tax to avoid penalties,” he said.

The BIR has said it would go after the P23.38 billion in additional revenues from the 57 tax cases it has filed under
the Run-After-Tax-Evaders program of the Aquino administration. Of these cases, six have been filed with the Court
of Tax Appeals, including that of Mariano Lim Gaw Jr., the current biggest tax-evasion case.

The BIR is seeking to collect at least P5.5 billion from Gaw for underdeclaring his income in 2007 and 2008, and
for failing to remit value-added tax returns to the government in 2008. The case against Gaw was filed with the
Department of Justice (DOJ) on August 26, 2010; the DOJ ruled there was probable cause.

Gaw, who owns Mega Packaging Corp., allegedly bought 10 parcels of land in 2007 and 2008 for P4.11 billion and
sold them for P8.41 billion within a year.

Twenty-five of the 57 cases are up for resolution at the DOJ and 12 are still under preliminary investigation.

The latest tax regulation sets the reportorial requirements for establishments leasing commercial spaces.  “It shall be the primary responsibility of all owners or sub-lessors of commercial establishments/ buildings/spaces to ensure that the person intending to lease their commercial space is a BIR- registered taxpayer,” the issuance stated.  Their tenants must have a tax identification number (TIN), a BIR Certificate of Registration and duly registered receipts, it added.

These requirements ensure that those engaged in retail remit value-added taxes and income taxes to the government.  Under the new issuance, building owners will now be required to submit, under oath, a tax registration profile of their lessees to the BIR twice a year.(BIR)

This CPE is in coordination with the Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service (PRBRES).

The activity will be the final CPE seminar before the deadline on July 30, 2011 as embodied under R.A. 9646 for the registration of former DTI licensed real estate service practitioners with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The said activity will be held at the Sacred Heart Center, D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City.  All Brokers and Salesmen are urged to take this opportunity to attend said seminar to comply with the PRC requirement.  Real Estate Brokers who fails to register with the PRC after the deadline will need to take another broker’s examination.

For details, please contact NREA Secretariat Richel B. Jumawan at 254-5780, 4125676 or 0919-6500753; 0922-7880851.