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Article 5 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, as renumbered, and Presidential Decree No. 851 mandate every employer in the private sector to pay their rank-and-file employees with 13th month pay. To reiterate this responsibility, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has issued Labor Advisory No. 18, which emphasizes the guidelines on the payment of 13th month pay for calendar year 2021.

The Social Security System (SSS) signed Circular No. 2021-14 last October 29, 2021 which allows SSS member-borrowers to fully settle their outstanding loan balance, composed of principal and interest, with condonation of penalty.

Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) 97-2021, which focuses on taxation of income received by social media influencers, was issued last Aug. 16, 2021. Since then, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has continued to double its efforts in strengthening the tax compliance of all taxpayers deriving income online.

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) recently issued Revenue Memorandum Circular 107-2021 on Oct. 18, 2021 providing taxation guidelines on the imposition of taxes on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo) pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 11590 entitled “An Act Taxing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations.”

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) released Advisory 2021-039 to inform the public about the guidelines in claiming the Covid-19 Vaccine Injury Compensation Package and the benefits under the National Health Insurance Program. The Covid-19 National Vaccine Indemnity Fund, established under the Covid-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021 (Republic Act 11525), would compensate inoculated persons in case of death, permanent disability and hospital confinement for serious adverse effects of the vaccine.

Last Sept. 22, 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11590 or an “Act Taxing Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo),” which amends certain provisions in the National Internal Revenue Code to clarify taxes imposed on Pogos. This will provide clearer taxation guidelines and will strengthen the power of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to collect taxes from Pogos.

IN its Revenue Memorandum Circular 94-2021, dated July 21, 2021, the Bureau of Internal Revenue clarified the proper computation of Donor’s Tax in case there is a partial renunciation of inheritance. This happens when an heir waives his/her share in an identified property but not to the entire set of properties of the decedent. Such scenario will result to an unequal share of heirs in the decedent’s property. Hence, donor’s tax should be computed based on the value of the share the heir has foregone in favor of other heirs.

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has released Memorandum Circular (MC) Nos. 2021-049 and 2021-051 to extend work-from-home (WFH) arrangements for registered business enterprises (RBEs) engaged in Information Technology – Business Process Management (IT-BPM) until March 31, 2022.