Be updated on our latest insights

The moment we had our third daughter, I was very conscious of the fact that we now have a middle child in the family. At the onset, I really wanted to pay very particular attention to our second one, because I did not want her to ever feel that she is being left out. Over the past few weeks, however, I have been noticing that the situation I have tried to avoid is happening.

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Regulations (RR) 09-2019 on Aug. 27, 2019 to amend RR 05-2017 on the tax privileges to persons with disabilities (PWDs) and tax incentives to establishments granting sales discounts to such PWDs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—in agreement to its order to assist in implementing the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), as amended, and the Terrorist Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA)—approved the amended version of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 17 s. 2018 on the Revision of the General Information Sheet (GIS) to include Beneficial Ownership Information.

The Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA) or House Bill No. 304 hurdled the scrutiny of the House Ways and Means Committee a few days ago. If passed into law, PIFITA will amend certain provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (Tax Code) on the taxation of passive income and income of financial intermediaries. PIFITA will be the fourth package of the government’s comprehensive tax reform program.

IN ACCORDANCE with Social Security Commission Resolution 549-s 2019, the Social Security System (SSS) issued SSS Circular 2019-12 on Aug. 6, 2019, prescribing the deadlines for remitting contributions applicable for July 2019 onward, shown as follows:

Contestants for Little Miss Philippines on a noontime variety show were often asked the question: “Ano gusto mong maging paglaki mo? (What do you want to be when you grow up?)” The question brims with hope for the future. Today, however, kids have access to much more information; and so, the same question brings with it more than just hope. In a way, it also makes kids worried.

THE Local Government Code of 1991 decentralized local government units (LGUs) and, for this purpose, LGUs were given an annual allocation (allotment) of 40% of national tax collections (Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA). The IRA is in addition to the local taxes that the LGUs already impose and may impose in their respective jurisdictions. Now, after a long 28 years, this decentralization does not seem to have provided the improvements in the lives of our citizens that its proponents had argued as reason for its adoption.

Authorized or not? This question is very relevant to taxpayers who are subject to a tax audit. One should at least know if the Revenue Officer (RO) conducting the audit investigation is duly armed with a valid Letter of Authority (LoA). The Tax Code, as amended, requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (CIR) or their duly authorized representative to issue an LoA if it will delegate the examination of a taxpayer.